Cabretta Island Groundwater Monitoring
Cabretta Island Groundwater Monitoring
Dr.
Alicia
M.
Wilson
University of South Carolina
Department of Geological Sciences
University of South Carolina
Columbia
South Carolina
29208
USA
awilson@geol.sc.edu
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/our_people/directory/wilson_alicia.php
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1113-6267
Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project
Dept. of Marine Sciences
University of Georgia
Athens
Georgia
30602-3636
USA
gcelter@uga.edu
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/
Dr.
Alicia
M.
Wilson
University of South Carolina
Department of Geological Sciences
University of South Carolina
Columbia
South Carolina
29208
USA
awilson@geol.sc.edu
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/earth_ocean_and_environment/our_people/directory/wilson_alicia.php
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1113-6267
Principal investigator
Dr.
Samantha
B.
Joye
University of Georgia
Dept. of Marine Sciences
University of Georgia
Athens
Georgia
30602-3636
USA
mjoye@uga.edu
http://www.marsci.uga.edu/directory/samantha-b-joye
Co-investigator
Dr.
Willard
S.
Moore
University of South Carolina
Department of Geological Sciences
University of South Carolina
Columbia
South Carolina
29208
USA
moore@geol.sc.edu
http://www.geol.sc.edu/billy.htm
Co-investigator
2026
Project Goals
The project is designed to quantify groundwater flow and chemical exchange in a barrier island. This exchange has important implications for salt water intrusion, salt marsh ecosystems, and water quality in the estuary and coastal ocean. The project also focuses on how storms alter subsurface fluid and chemical fluxes.
Piezometers and a rain gauge installed at the site are instrumented with dataloggers to monitor subsurface conditions (hydraulic head, temperature, salinity) and to record precipitation data. The piezometers are also sampled for Ra tracers and a suite of biogeochemical parameters. Wells must be periodically re-installed on the beach, because of rapid erosion at the site. Ongoing biogeochemical work also requires periodic installation of shallow piezometers.
Associated GCE LTER research questions
Question 2: How do the spatial and temporal patterns of biogeochemical processes, primary production, community dynamics, decomposition, and disturbance vary across the estuarine landscape, and how do they relate to environmental gradients? (more information)
beach
forest
marsh
subterranean
carbon
depth
nutrients
oxygen
pressure
salinity
sedimentology
temperature
water flow
LTER
NSF
GCE
movement of inorganic matter
movement of organic matter
pore-water chemistry
Overall geographic extent of the research project
-81.307978
-81.176185
31.536369
31.380150
2008-01-01
2012-11-01
NSF (Hydrology) $560k (USC and UGA)
estuary marsh complex
Sapelo Island - Sapelo Island on the Southeast Georgia Coast
-81.307978
-81.176185
31.536369
31.380150
Map (Google Earth KML/KMZ or map image)
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/private/registration/files/maps/GCE-9-2011_Maps_Wilson_cabretta_study_2011.kmz
Project Location
The well transect runs across Cabretta Island, from 31.42592 -81.2480 to 31.42505 -81.2460. There is a rain gauge at 31.42573 -81.2472.
Equipment
Wells (piezometers) with dataloggers to record water levels. Re-installation of wells lost from the eroding beach may require a gas-powered pump, vibracore, and hand-augers, but these do not remain at the site.
Hunter, E., Nibbelink, N., Alexander, C.R. Jr., Barrett, K., Mengak, L., Guy, R., Moore, C. and Cooper, R. 2015. Coastal vertebrate exposure to predicted habitat changes due to sea level rise. Environmental Management. (DOI: 10.1007/s00267-015-0580-3)
Wilson, A.M., Evans, T., Moore, W.S., Schutte, C., Joye, S.B., Hughes, A.H. and Anderson, J. 2015. Groundwater controls ecological zonation of salt marsh macrophytes. Ecology. 96(3):840-849. (DOI: 10.1890/13-2183.1)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/13-2183.1/abstract
Wilson, A.M., Evans, T., Moore, W.S., Schutte, C. and Joye, S.B. 2015. What time scales are important for monitoring tidally influenced submarine groundwater discharge? Insights from a salt marsh. Water Resources Research. 51(6). (DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015984)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014WR015984/abstract
Wilson, A.M., Moore, W.S., Joye, S.B., Anderson, J. and Schutte, C. 2011. Storm-driven groundwater flow in a salt marsh. Water Resources Research. 47(2):1-11. (DOI: 10.1029/2010WR009496)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010WR009496/pdf