The interactions among surface water, groundwater and seawater are closely related in the coastal area with complex hydrological conditions. A series of impacts from human activities and climate change are also more significant in this region. In order to understand the key knowledge and research status of surface water and groundwater interaction in coastal area, it is a useful method to analyze literatures in this research scope in the core database of Web of Science by using CiteSpace. The research achievements in this field were systematically sorted and potential research hotspots were explored, which may provide references for subsequent researches. The results show the following.
The number of highly cited articles and highly burst articles in this research field has increased significantly since 2010. At present, this field is still in the development stage and has a broad research prospect.
The United States, Australia, China and Germany have done plenty of researches on this issue and achieved a lot. At present, the number of research achievements supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China is in the lead over the world.
Seawater intrusion, submarine groundwater discharge, the relationship between tide and hydrological conditions are the main research direction in this field. Hydrochemistry and isotopic analysis, and numerical simulation are the most important research methods in this field.
The potential development directions and breakthroughs in this field include submarine groundwater discharge, the evolution of coastal mangrove wetlands, the migration and transformation of nutrients, the influences of different hydrological factors on coastal areas, and the impact of climate change on coastal areas. Overall, the future development of surface water and groundwater research in coastal areas is inseparable from the cross-integration of various disciplines, mutual verification of multiple methods and the introduction of new technical means.