Offshore Freshened Groundwater with Dr. Aaron Micallef

February 1, 2021

Freshwater reservoirs under the sea? Yes indeed

This week, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham speak with Dr. Aaron Micallef about the science behind Offshore Freshened Groundwater. Aaron is a marine geologist investigating the geomorphology of continental margins. He uses quantitative techniques to analyse geophysical and sedimentological data to solve problems related to submarine mass movements, canyons and gullies, fluid flow processes, submerged landscapes and seafloor mapping.Offshore freshened groundwater (OFG) is water stored in pores of sediments and fractures of rocks in the sub‐seafloor and with a total dissolved solid concentration below that of seawater. OFG was first documented 60 years ago off Florida's West coast. Today, groundwater resources in coastal regions are facing enormous pressure caused by population growth and climate change. Will coastal communities use OFG for their water supply needs in the future? We explore the science on this show, only on ASPN!



Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.