Geochronology in the South Florida Ecosystem and Associated Ecosystem Programs

Project Investigator: Charles W. Holmes Project Start Date: 1996 End Date: 1999 Proposals Data Metadata Publications Project Location Map

Over the past three decades there has been a dramatic increase in the volume and range of research on recent sediments. Much of this research effort has been aimed at understand short-lived sedimentologic processes and the result of anthropogenic manipulation of natural processes. In south Florida, ecological changes have alarmed all who are concerned with maintaining the south Florida way of life. In order to understand what has influenced the natural processes that have caused these changes, it is necessary to understand the processes at work within the system and to determine the rates at which these changes are occurring. The lack of historical records documenting changes dictates that other methods be used to measure "rates of change." A common method is to use the decay of naturally occurring radioactive nuclides. The usefulness of any radioactive nuclides requires certain conditions be met. These conditions are 1. the chemistry of the nuclide (element) is known; 2. The nuclide onces incorporated into the substrate changes only by decay, and 3. in order to be useful, it is relatively easy to measure. The objectives of the project is to measure the distribution of short-lived radionuclides to provide a temporal component to the processes at work within the Ecosystem.

Proposals

• 1998
• 1999

Data

Metadata

• Geochronology of Terrestrial Sediments in South Florida (project metadata)
• Florida Bay core logs disposition and analysis parameters (data set metadata)
• Florida Bay Cores Site Information (data set metadata)
• Florida Bay Physical Data (data set metadata)
• Florida Bay Radiochemical data (data set metadata)
• Florida Bay sample core log (data set metadata)
• Geochemistry of Metals (tables 1-12 OFR 00-327) (data set metadata)
• X-Radiographs Data (data set metadata)

Publications

Abstracts

• Geochronology and Metal Deposition in the South Florida Ecosystem (from the South Florida Restoration Science Forum, May 1999)
• Geochronology of Terrestrial Sediments in South Florida
• Methods to Establish the Timing of Ecological Changes in South Florida - Good, Better, Best
• Sediment Dynamics of Florida Bay Mud Banks on a Decadal Time Scale (from the GEER Conference, December, 2000)
• Sedimentary Dynamics of Florida Bay Mud Banks on a Decadal Time Scale (from the Florida Bay Conference Proceedings, 1998)

Fact Sheets

• Short-Lived Isotopic Chronometers - A Means of Measuring Decadal Sedimentary Dynamics

Open File Reports

• Chemical analysis results for mercury and trace elements in vegetation, water, and organic-rich sediments, South Florida (Open File Report 96-91, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)
• Pollen and geochronological data from South Florida: Taylor Creek Site 2 (Open-File Report 97-35)
• Preliminary Paleontologic Report on Core 37, from Pass Key, Everglades National Park, Florida Bay (Open-File Report 98-122, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)
• Preliminary paleontologic report on core T-24, Little Madeira Bay, Florida (Open-File Report 96-543, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)
• Preliminary paleontologic report on cores 19A and 19B, from Russell Bank, Everglades National Park, Florida Bay (Open-File Report 97-460)
• Regional Geochemistry of Metals in Organic-Rich Sediments, Sawgrass and Surface Water, from Taylor Slough, Florida (OFR 00-327)
• U. S. Geological Survey Program on the South Florida Ecosystem - Proceedings of the Technical Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (Open File Report 97-385, available from the U.S. Geological Survey website)

Posters

• Geochronology of Terrestrial Sediments: South Florida ecosystem (1997)
• Paleo-hydrology of Southern Florida?