More than 90% of key nutrients degrading the Mar Menor lagoon come from recirculated underground flows

More than 90% of the key nutrients degrading the Mar Menor, such as ammonium, phosphorus and silica, do not come from streams or continental groundwater, but rather through a mechanism that has so far been overlooked: Water from the lagoon itself infiltrates the sediments and re-emerges loaded with nutrients that have accumulated over years.

This is the conclusion of a recent study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), Spain, which questions the current restoration strategies for the Mar Menor because they do not take this pathway of contamination into account. ...