Advancing Submarine Groundwater Discharge Understanding: Pathways, Impacts, and Integrated Methodologies in Coastal Ecosystems

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is increasingly recognized as a critical pathway linking terrestrial and marine systems, delivering freshwater, nutrients, trace metals, and contaminants to coastal ecosystems. Once considered a minor flux, SGD is now understood to play important roles in coastal biogeochemistry, ecosystem health, and global element cycles. Despite this growing recognition, the magnitude, variability, and ecological consequences of SGD remain poorly constrained due to the complexity of subsurface pathways, spatiotemporal heterogeneity, and methodological challenges in quantifying fluxes. Recent advances in geochemical tracers, geophysical imaging, and coupled hydrological-biogeochemical modeling have opened new opportunities to refine SGD estimates and assess its ecological significance. Building on these developments, this Research Topic seeks to advance interdisciplinary understanding of SGD and its multifaceted impacts on coastal environments.



The overarching goal of this Research Topic is to address critical gaps in our understanding of SGD pathways, magnitudes, and impacts on coastal ecosystems. Although progress has been made, uncertainties remain in quantifying SGD at regional to global scales, characterizing the variability of discharge under changing climatic and anthropogenic conditions, and linking SGD processes to ecological outcomes such as nutrient dynamics, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and habitat resilience. There is also a pressing need to evaluate how SGD interacts with extreme events, such as droughts, floods, and sea-level rise, shaping coastal vulnerability and resilience. To advance this field, we encourage contributions that integrate field observations, laboratory experiments, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. By fostering cross-disciplinary perspectives, this Research Topic aims to establish a more comprehensive and predictive understanding of SGD, providing insights that support sustainable coastal management, ecosystem conservation, and adaptation strategies in the face of global change.



This Research Topic welcomes contributions that explore the occurrence, mechanisms, and consequences of submarine groundwater discharge in coastal systems worldwide. We invite manuscripts that address, but are not limited to:

(i) methodological innovations for quantifying SGD, including tracer techniques, geophysical surveys, and modeling approaches;

(ii) interactions between SGD, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystem functioning;

(iii) the role of SGD under climate variability, sea-level rise, and extreme events; and

(iv) case studies linking SGD to management and policy implications.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Submarine Groundwater Discharge, Coastal Zone, Coastal Hydrology, Surface Water-Groundwater Interactions, Nutrient loadings

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.