Isaac Santos

Graduate Student

Chemical Oceanography
Major Professor: Dr. Bill Burnett

Department of Oceanography
Rm 323, OSB
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4320

Research

My research focus on the application of natural geochemical tracers (²²² Rn, CH₄, and Ra isotopes) to quantify Submarine Groundwater Discharge to coastal environments. I am also interested on the biogeochemical transformations that occur in the subterranean estuary. I am currently working in seasonal, long-term observations of groundwater tracers in coastal Florida. We plan to use this dataset to separate the relative contribution of the different marine and terrestrial SGD driving forces. I'll also investigate how anthropogenically-altered water levels (seasonal irrigation) affects SGD into a Brazilian coastal lagoon (Mangueira Lagoon). This system is unique in that nearly 80% of the water input to Mangueira Lagoon is used seasonally to irrigate rice plantations. The farmers also use huge amounts of fertilizers thus providing an exceptional system for study of the biogeochemical implications of SGD. We feel that this situation represents a world-wide trend of coastal zone development but with an extreme example of human interference on the biogeochemical and water cycles.