Geophysical evidence for karst formation associated with offshore groundwater transport: An example from North Carolina

Marine geophysical data from Long Bay, North Carolina, involving a novel combination of electromagnetic and high-resolution Chirp seismics, show evidence of submarine karst formation associated with what has been inferred to be a site of high-flux submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) a substantial distance offshore. Recently observed temperature and chemical signals from wells in this area provide the basis for the interpretation of the high-flux SGD here, and they also suggest a terrestrial source for the groundwater and thus a potentially important route for nutrient transport to the oceans. Our data indicate that karstification is localized to the high-flux zone, and we suggest that mixing of the chemically distinct (but saline) groundwater with seawater has resulted in the karstification. As karstification increases permeability and flux, a positive feedback would tend to progressively enhance submarine groundwater discharge. Our data reveal a significant local anomaly in apparent porosity: a dense block that may have initiated the local focusing of groundwater flow. Conditions favorable to the formation of similar locally punctuated sites of high-flux SGD are likely to exist along the mid to inner shelf of the southeastern United States, where carbonate aquifers are prevalent.