Physics of Atoll Groundwater Flow

Abstract

Large-scale steady-state groundwater flow in atoll carbonate platforms results from temperature and salinity-induced density gradients. Atolls are built on top of a basaltic substrate that provides geothermal heating from beneath. Moreover, they are immersed in the tropical ocean where temperature decreases rapidly with depth. Groundwater circulation in these platforms has long been associated with the geothermal heat flux because it is capable of generating inward and upward flow of oceanic origin water by buoyancy effects. This study shows that hydraulic circulation occurs even in the absence of a geothermal flux because the combination of the cold subsurface ocean waters with the warm surface conditions is sufficient to maintain a convection cell within the carbonate platform. Using a one-dimensional analytical model, validated by more sophisticated two-dimensional simulations, we can investigate the interaction between these two driving forces. The flow rate inside the platform is, in fact, a function of the ratio of the geothermal flux to the temperature gradient in the ocean. It increases with the geothermal flux but decreases with the oceanic temperature gradient. This one-dimensional model also shows that taking salinity effects on density into account increases the flow rates transiting through the platform by a third.