Geology and Ecological History of the 'Buttonwood Ridge' Region

Project Investigator: Charles W. Holmes Project Start Date: 1996 End Date: 1998 Proposals Publications

Summary

The objectives of this study is the determine the origin of Buttonwood Ridge and define its role in ecologic history of the area.

The changes that have occurred in the transition zone between the Florida Peninsula and Florida Bay have changed the biologic productivity of the region. Where there once were large flocks of wading birds, they are extremely rare at the present time. It is thought that this demise is a signal of a great environmental change that has been brought on by anthropogenic changes in the hydrologic regime. This project addresses the geologic history of the region seeking the causes and the timing of these changes. It is assumed that once the causes and timing are understood, a management scheme can be put in place that will correct these changes and revert this important ecologic region back to a sustainable biologic resource.

The objectives of this study is the determine the origin of the "topographic feature" known as the Buttonwood Ridge and define its role in ecologic history of the area. It is a feature which is an enigma, in that it is constructed of fine carbonate mud with no perceptual store derived features. This program will examine the details of the feature and determine how the geologic structure relates to the development of features on both the upland and bays sides. As this is a region of once high biologic productivity which "fed" the resource of Florida Bay, it is imperative that this information be ascertained.

Proposals

• 1998

Publications

Abstracts

• Buttonwood Embankment, Northeastern Florida Bay (from the South Florida Restoration Science Forum, May 1999)
• Buttonwood Embankment: The Historical Perspective on Its Role in Northeastern Florida Bay Hydrology (from the Florida Bay and Adjacent Marine Systems Science Conference, November, 1999)
• Changes of the sub-aqueous ecosystem in northeastern Florida Bay due to hydrologic changes in the southern Everglades (from the 2002 Spring AGU meeting)
• Geology and Ecological History of the "Buttonwood Ridge" Region
• Methods to Establish the Timing of Ecological Changes in South Florida - Good, Better, Best
• The Geology of the Buttonwood Ridge and Its Historical Significance

Posters

• Buttonwood Embankment: the historical perspective on its role in northeastern Florida Bay sedimentary dynamics and hydrology