MARIA S. MERIAN MSM103

Offshore groundwater resources are estimated at half a million cubic kilometers – the same volume that is used by human population within one century at present-day consumption. As water scarcity increases with growing population, it is important to assess to what extent this resource can be used sustainably. Here, the marine expedition to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, which is one of the most thoroughly investigated offshore groundwater sites world-wide, will seek answer to first order questions about the functioning of offshore groundwater systems and to validate geophysical techniques that have been used to constrain offshore groundwater water systems. The objective is to decipher the influence of glacial processes on offshore groundwater systems in a clastic consolidated sedimentary basin. The Gulf of St. Lawrence is uniquely suited for this purpose because the simple glacial evolution along the Laurentian Channel and the comparatively large distance to the onshore aquifer of Prince Edward Island allow to distinguish between the glacial and modern groundwater formation. The clastic system of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is typical of many shelf areas in the world, which ensures that the results of this project can be used to inform global groundwater resource assessments and develop sustainable exploitation scenarios.