Modeling the Transport of Radium Isotopes Offshore Tampa Bay Through Submarine Groundwater Discharge

Radium isotopes have been used in years past to observe and understand coastal mixing processes and submarine groundwater discharge. There are four radium isotopes used as natural tracers: Ra-224, Ra-223, Ra-226, and Ra-228, with half lives ranging in length from a few days to over a thousand years, which makes them applicable tracers of process of a variety of lengths of time. In this project, I simulated the flow of these isotopes through submarine groundwater discharge into coastal and offshore waters. I constructed a model of the study area, using a computer program called Visual MODFLOW, which uses finite difference methods to model groundwater flow. I then ran the model, and determined the results of the model support the excess radium activity seen offshore, as attributed to submarine groundwater discharge