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C. D. Reich

Publications and source records attributed to C. D. Reich.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2011

Benthic habitat classification in Lignumvitae Key Basin, Florida Bay, using the U.S. Geological Survey Along-Track Reef Imaging System (ATRIS)

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) funded in partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District, and other Federal, local and Tribal members has in its mandate a guideline to protect and restore freshwater flows to coastal environments to pre-1940s conditions (CERP, 1999). Historic salinity data are sparse for Florida Bay, so it is difficult for water managers to decide what the correct quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of freshwater are to maintain a healthy and productive estuarine ecosystem. Proxy records of seasurface temperature (SST) and salinity have proven useful in south Florida. Trace-element chemistry on foraminifera and molluscan shells preserved in shallow-water sediments has provided some information on historical salinity and temperature variability in coastal settings, but little information is available for areas within the main part of Florida Bay (Brewster-Wingard and others, 1996). Geochemistry of coral skeletons can be used to develop subannually resolved proxy records for SST and salinity. Previous studies suggest corals, specifically Solenastrea bournoni, present in the lower section of Florida Bay near Lignumvitae Key, may be suitable for developing records of SST and salinity for the past century, but the distribution and species composition of the bay coral community have not been well documented (Hudson and others, 1989; Swart and others, 1999). Oddly, S. bournoni thrives in the study area because it can grow on a sandy substratum and can tolerate highly turbid water. Solenastrea bournoni coral heads in this area should be ideally located to provide a record (~100-150 years) of past temperature and salinity variations in Florida Bay. The goal of this study was to utilize the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Along-Track Reef Imaging System (ATRIS) capability to further our understanding of the abundance, distribution, and size of corals in the Lignumvitae Key Basin. The study area was subdivided into four areas whereby corals and other benthic habitats were classified based on ATRIS imagery.

Florida↗
USGS2010

Do three massive coral species from the same reef record the same SST signal? A test from the Dry Tortugas, Florida Keys

Paleoclimatologists have reconstructed century-long records of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Pacific using the Sr/Ca of massive corals, whereas similar reconstructions in the Atlantic have not proceeded at the same pace. Past research in the Florida Keys has focused on Montastrea spp. , an abundant and fast-growing massive coral, thus a good candidate for climate reconstructions. However, coral records from the Florida Keys are complicated by freshwater flux, which varies the Sr/Ca in seawater, thus confounding the Sr/Ca to SST signal. In this research, we compared the monthly Sr/Ca variations in three massive corals species ( Montastraea faveolata, Diploria strigosa, and Siderastrea siderea ) from the same reef in the nearly pristine Dry Tortugas National Park (24.70N, 82.80W) at the southwestern extent of the Florida Keys. This location is ideal for a calibration study as hourly water temperature records are available and the remote reef is far from mainland freshwater influence. These corals experienced the same environmental conditions (water depth, clarity, Sr/Ca of seawater, etc.) but differ in the mean annual growth rates (0.86 &plusmn;0.10 (1&sigma;) cm/year M. faveolata ; 0.67 &plusmn;0.04 (1&sigma;) cm/year D. strigosa ; 0.44 &plusmn;0.04 (1&sigma;) cm/year S. siderea ). The mean Sr/Ca values are not the same but decrease with mean annual growth rates (9.201 &plusmn;0.091 (1&sigma;) mmol/mol M. faveolata ; 9.177 &plusmn;0.081 (1&sigma;) mmol/mol D. strigosa ; 8.964 &plusmn;0.12 (1&sigma;) mmol/mol S. siderea ), thus supporting the &ldquo;vital effect&rdquo; or biological differences during calcification between coral species. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle in Sr/Ca varies with the slower growing S. siderea having the largest mean amplitude and D. strigosa the smallest (0.340 mmol/mol S. siderea ; 0.284 mmol/mol M. faveolata ; 0.238 mmol/mol D. strigosa ). We confirmed our sampling methods by conducting several intracolony and intercolony coral Sr/Ca replication tests and found a high correlation in all tests (>0.95 S. siderea ; >0.90 D. strigosa ; >0.83 M. faveolata; p < 0.05). The weighted linear regression of monthly coral Sr/Ca to mean monthly SST revealed that S. siderea captured the seasonal and interannual variability in SST ( r = -0.97, -0.61 monthly and monthly anomalies, respectively, p < 0.05). The other corals have reduced correlation with monthly anomalies and do not capture the seasonal variability with the same fidelity as S. siderea . All three corals were sampled along the thecal wall following the same procedures; however, each coral species has a different skeletal structure, density, and micro-scale growth patterns. We hypothesize the thecal wall of S. siderea calcifies at a continuous rate along the time-growth axis whereas the wall of D. strigosa and M. faveolata reflects a more complex signal. Of the three species, the slow growing S. siderea provides a robust reconstruction of mean monthly SST for the Dry Tortugas thus suitable for longer centennial-scale reconstructions.

Florida↗
USGS2009

Foraminiferal assemblages in Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA: Responses to urban and agricultural influence in a subtropical estuary

This study assessed foraminiferal assemblages in Biscayne Bay, Florida, a heavily utilized estuary, interpreting changes over the past 65 years and providing a baseline for future comparisons. Analyses of foraminiferal data at the genus level revealed three distinct biotopes. The assemblage from the northern bay was characterized by stress-tolerant taxa, especially Ammonia , present in low abundances (∼2.0 × 10 3 foraminifers/gram) though relatively high diversity (∼19 genera/sample). The southwestern margin of the bay was dominated by Ammonia and Quinqueloculina , an assemblage characterized by the lowest diversities (∼12 genera/sample) and highest abundances (∼1.1 × 10 4 foraminifers/gram), influenced by both reduced salinity and elevated organic-carbon concentrations. A diverse assemblage of smaller miliolids and rotaliids (∼26 genera/sample) characterized the open-bay assemblage, which also had a significant component (∼10%) of taxa that host algal endosymbionts. In the past 65 years, populations of symbiont-bearing taxa, which are indicators of normal-marine conditions, have decreased while stress-tolerant taxa, especially Ammonia spp., have increased in predominance.

Florida↗
USGS2006

New maps, new information: Coral reefs of the Florida keys

A highly detailed digitized map depicts 22 benthic habitats in 3140.5 km2 of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Dominant are a seagrass/lime-mud zone (map area 27.5%) throughout Hawk Channel and seagrass/carbonate-sand (18.7%) and bare carbonate-sand (17.3%) zones on the outer shelf and in The Quicksands. A lime-mud/seagrass-covered muddy carbonate-sand zone (9.6%) abuts the keys. Hardbottom communities (13.2%) consist of bare Pleistocene coralline and oolitic limestone, coral rubble, and senile coral reefs. Smaller terrestrial (4.0%) and marine habitats, including those of live coral (patch reefs, 0.7%), account for the rest (13.7%) of the area. Derived from aerial photomosaics, the seabed dataset fits precisely when transposed onto a newly developed National Geophysical Data Center hydrographic-bathymetry map. Combined, the maps point to new information on unstudied seabed morphologies, among them an erosional nearshore rock ledge bordering the seaward side of the Florida Keys and thousands of patch-reef clusters aligned in mid-Hawk Channel. Preliminary indications are that the ledge may represent the seaward extent of the 125-ka Key Largo and Miami Limestone that form the keys, and the patch reefs colonized landward edges of two noncoralline, non-dune-ridge topographic troughs. The troughs, their substrate, and inner-shelf location along the seaward side of the Hawk Channel bedrock depression are the first of that type of nuclei to be recognized in the Florida reef record. Together, the map datasets establish the efficacy and accuracy of using aerial photographs to define in extraordinary detail the seabed features and habitats in a shallow-reef setting.

Journal of Coastal Research↗
USGS2003

Staghorn tempestites in the Florida Keys

Thirty-one samples of transported Holocene Acropora cervicornis "sticks" sampled from carbonate sand tempestite accumulations at 19 sites along a 180-km-long stretch of the Florida reef tract were dated using the radiocarbon (14C) method. The "modern fossils" collected from just a few centimeters below the surface ranged in age from 0.5 to 6.4 ka. The majority lived between 3.5 and 5.5 ka. The time of transport and deposition is not known. There were no A. cervicornis samples centered around 4.5 ka. Acropora cervicornis is living on many Florida reefs, but the youngest tempestite sample was 500 years old. Two 500-year-long gaps in dated staghorn suggest that the documented decline in living A. cervicornis over the past 25 years may not be without precedent.

Coral Reefs↗
USGS2003

Regional quaternary submarine geomorphology in the Florida Keys

High-quality seismic reflection profiles fill a major gap in geophysical data along the south Florida shelf, allowing updated interpretations of the history of the Quaternary coral reef system. Incorporation of the new and existing data sets provides the basis for detailed color maps of the Pleistocene surface and thickness of overlying Holocene accretions. The maps cover the Florida Keys to a margin-wide upper-slope terrace (30 to 40 m deep) and extend from The Elbow Reef (north Key Largo) to Rebecca Shoal (Gulf of Mexico). The data indicate that Pleistocene bedrock is several meters deeper to the southwest than to the northeast, yet in general, Holocene sediments are ~3 to 4 m thick shelf-wide. The Pleistocene map demonstrates the significance of a westward-dipping bedrock surface to Holocene flooding history and coral reef evolution. Seismic facies show evidence for two possible Holocene stillstands. Aerial photographs provide information on the seabed surface, much of which is below seismic resolution. The photographs define a prominent, regional nearshore rock ledge that extends ~2.5 km seaward from the keys' shoreline. They show that bands of rock ridges exist along the outer shelf and on the upper-slope terrace. The photographs also reveal four tracts of outlier reefs on the terrace, one more than had been documented seismically. Seismic and photographic data indicate the tracts are >200 km long, nearly four times longer than previously thought. New interpretations provide insights into a youngest possible terrace age (ca. 175 ka?) and the likelihood that precise ages of oxygen isotope substage 5e ooid tidal-bar and coral reef components may differ. The tidal-bar/reef complex forms the Florida Keys.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS2002

Seepage meters and Bernoulli's revenge

Evaluation of seepage data from a network of 50 permanently deployed submarine seepage meters, specially constructed from fiberglass, indicates that the devices artificially advect (Bernoulli effect) shallow ground water. Reverse flow into the rock was not observed even when adjacent piezometers installed 2-m to 20-m below the rock-water interface indicated negative groundwater heads. Quantitative testing of five different designs, including conventional end-of-oil-drum designs, indicates that meters presenting positive relief on the sea floor are subject to the Bernoulli effect when placed in areas where there are waves and/or currents. Advection does not appear to be caused by flexing of the collection bags.

Florida↗
USGS2001

Using multiple geochemical tracers to characterize the hydrogeology of the submarine spring off Crescent Beach, Florida

A spectacular submarine spring is located about 4 km east of Crescent Beach, FL, in the Atlantic Ocean. The single vent feature of Crescent Beach Spring provides a unique opportunity to examine onshore–offshore hydrogeologic processes, as well as point source submarine ground water discharge. The Floridan aquifer system in northeastern Florida consists of Tertiary interspersed limestone and dolomite strata. Impermeable beds confine the water-bearing zones under artesian pressure. Miocene and younger confining strata have been eroded away at the vent feature, enabling direct hydrologic communication of Eocene ground water with coastal bottom waters. The spring water had a salinity of 6.02, which was immediately diluted by ambient seawater during advection/mixing. The concentration of major solutes in spring water and onshore well waters confirm a generalized easterly flow direction of artesian ground water. Nutrient concentrations were generally low in the reducing vent samples, and the majority of the total nitrogen species existed as NH 3 . The submarine ground water tracers, Rn-222 (1174 dpm l −1 , dpm), methane (232 nM) and barium (294.5 nM) were all highly enriched in the spring water relative to ambient seawater. The concentrations of the reverse redox elements U, V and Mo were expectedly low in the submarine waters. The strontium isotope ratio of the vent water ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr=0.70798) suggests that the spring water contain an integrated signature indicative of Floridan aquifer system ground water. Additional Sr isotopic ratios from a series of surficial and Lower Floridan well samples suggest dynamic ground water mixing, and do not provide clear evidence for a single hydrogeologic water source at the spring vent. In this karst-dominated aquifer, such energetic mixing at the vent feature is expected, and would be facilitated by conduit and fractured flow. Radium isotope activities were utilized to estimate flow-path trajectories and to provide information on potential travel times between an onshore well and the spring. Using either 223 Ra and 224 Ra or 228 Ra, and qualifying this approach with several key assumptions, estimates of water mass travel times from an upper Floridan well in Crescent Beach to the submarine vent feature (distance=4050 m) are in the order of ∼0.01–0.1 m min −1 .

Florida↗