ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biogeochemistry
This article is part of the Research TopicTransport, Migration, Transformation, and Biological Effects of Typical Radioactive Pollutants in the Marine EnvironmentView all articles
Preliminary study on tracing 14C in groundwater-derived dissolved organic carbon: transport, transformation, and seawater recirculation in Jeju Island, South Korea
Provisionally accepted
- 1Northwest University, Xi'an, China
- 2Jeju National University, Jeju-si, Republic of Korea
- 3Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Earth Environment, Xi'an, China
- 4Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu, Republic of Korea
- 5Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea
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Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a key but understudied pathway in the terrestrial-oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) cycle. In this study, fresh and saline groundwater samples were collected from two sites on Jeju Island, South Korea: Hwasun and Bangdu Bay on the western and eastern coast, respectively. DOC concentrations in fresh groundwater were extremely low (5 ± 3 μM), with pre-aged radiocarbon values ranging from –469 to –407‰. In the brackish zone of Bangdu Bay, distinctive spectroscopic signals, elevated DOC concentrations, and enriched Δ14C-DOC values along the groundwater-coastal continuum indicate active recirculation of coastal water. Overall, our findings demonstrate that SGD not only delivers aged terrestrial DOC to coastal waters but is also modified by coastal processes, underscoring its potential significant yet complex role under the influence of coastal pollutions.
Keywords: radiocarbon, dissolved organic carbon, submarine groundwater discharge, Coastal water, Jeju island, Carbon Cycle
Received: 05 Oct 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fang, Kim, Kim, Cheng, Ryu, Kim and Kim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jeonghyun Kim, e927913@gmail.com
Minkyoung Kim, minkyoung@knu.ac.kr
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