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Research about Pinellas County, Florida

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Pinellas County, Florida.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2015

Field observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates

Oil that comes into the surf zone following spills, such as occurred during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon ( DWH ) blowout, can mix with local sediment to form heavier-than-water sand and oil agglomerates ( SOAs ), at times in the form of mats a few centimeters thick and tens of meters long. Smaller agglomerates that form in situ or pieces that break off of larger mats, sometimes referred to as surface residual balls ( SRBs ), range in size from sand-sized grains to patty-shaped pieces several centimeters ( cm ) in diameter. These mobile SOAs can cause beach oiling for extended periods following the spill, on the scale of years as in the case of DWH . Limited research, including a prior effort by the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) investigating SOA mobility, alongshore transport, and seafloor interaction using numerical model output, focused on the physical dynamics of SOAs . To address this data gap, we constructed artificial sand and oil agglomerates ( aSOAs ) with sand and paraffin wax to mimic the size and density of genuine SOAs . These aSOAs were deployed in the nearshore off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida, during a field experiment to investigate their movement and seafloor interaction. This report presents the methodology for constructing aSOAs and describes the field experiment. Data acquired during the field campaign, including videos and images of aSOA movement in the nearshore (1.5-meter and 0.5-meter water depth) and in the swash zone, are also presented in this report.

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USGS1999

Hydrogeology and analysis of aquifer characteristics in west-central Pinellas County, Florida

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Pinellas County, Florida, conducted an investigation to describe the hydrogeology and analyze the aquifer characteristics in west-central Pinellas County. A production test well and four monitor wells were constructed in Pinellas County at Walsingham Park during 1996-97. Water-quality sampling, static and dynamic borehole geophysical surveys, and hydraulic tests were conducted at the wells to delineate the hydrogeology at Walsingham Park. A 9-day aquifer test was conducted to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer system and observe the changes in water quality due to pumping. A numerical model was constructed to simulate the aquifer test and calculate values for hydraulic conductivity and storage coefficient for permeable zones and confining units at Walsingham Park. Final calibrated values for hydraulic conductivity for the different permeable zones and confining units at the test site were 18 feet per day for Upper Zone A, 750 feet per day for Lower Zone A, 1 foot per day for Zone B, 1x10-4 feet per day for the intermediate confining unit, and 10 feet per day for the semiconfining unit separating Upper Zone A and Lower Zone A. Final calibrated values for storage coefficient were 3.1x10-4 for Upper Zone A, 8.6x10-5 for Lower Zone A, 2.6x10-5 for Zone B, 3.1x10-4 for the intermediate confining unit, and 4.3x10-5 for the semiconfining unit separating Upper Zone A and Lower Zone A. Estimates of transmissivity for Upper Zone A and Lower Zone A were about 2,500 and 37,500 feet squared per day, respectively.

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USGS1996

Assessment of the fresh- and brackish-water resources underlying Dunedin and adjacent areas of northern Pinellas County, Florida

The city of Dunedin is enhancing their potable ground-water resources through desalination of brackish ground water. An assessment of the fresh- and brackish-water resources in the Upper Floridan aquifer was needed to estimate the changes that may result from brackish-water development. The complex hydrogeologic framework underlying Dunedin and adjacent areas of northern Pinellas County is conceptualized as a multilayered sequence of permeable zones and confining and semiconfining units. The permeable zones contain vertically spaced, discrete, water-producing zones with differing water quality. Water levels, water-level responses, and water quality are highly variable among the different permeable zones. The Upper Floridan aquifer is best characterized as a local flow system in most of northern Pinellas County. Pumping from the Dunedin well field is probably not influencing water levels in the aquifer outside Dunedin, but has resulted in localized depressions in the potentiometric surface surrounding production-well clusters. The complex geologic layering combined with the effects of production-well distribution probably contribute to the spatial and temporal variability in chloride concentrations in the Dunedin well field. Chloride concentrations in ground water underlying the Dunedin well field vary both vertically and laterally. In general, water-quality rapidly changes below depths of 400 feet below sea level. Additionally, randomly distributed water-producing zones with higher chloride concentrations may occur at shallow, discrete intervals above 400 feet. A relation between chloride concentration and distance from St. Joseph Sound is not apparent; however, a possible relation exists between chloride concentration and production-well density. Chloride-concentration data from production wells show a consistently increasing pattern that has accelerated since the late 1980's. Chloride-concentration data from 15 observation wells show increasing trends for 6 wells, decreasing trends for 3 wells, and no trend for 6 wells. The current and future, fresh- and brackish-water resources were evaluated using a numerical ground-water flow and solute-transport model. Simulation results indicate that the hydraulic conductivity of the uppermost permeable zone (upper zone A) of the Upper Floridan aquifer is four times greater than the two underlying permeable zones (lower zone A and zone B). The simulated hydraulic conduc- tivities of the semiconfining units are four orders of magnitude less than the permeable zones. Simulation results show the importance of semiconfining units as a mechanism for retarding the vertical movement of higher salinity ground water. Simulation results indicate that pumping from the brackish-water zone does not negatively influence the chloride-concentration trends in the overlying fresh-water zone; however, chloride changes in the fresh-water zone will continue to occur due to the continuation of current fresh-water withdrawals. Chloride changes in the brackish-water zone will occur from pumping brackish water.

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USGS1995

First record of an hypopus (Acari: Hypoderatidae) from a jaeger (Aves: Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae)

Thalassornectes (Alcidectes) aukletae, originally described from two species of auklets (Charadriiformes: Alcidae) from maritime eastern Russia, is reported from a third species of pelagic charadriiform (Stercorariidae), the pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius poinarinus (Temminck), from Florida. The specimens from the jaeger are slightly smaller, the genital apodeme is more heavily sclerotized, paired setae gm are twice as long and there are other minor variations in the idiosomal and leg chaetotaxy. These differences are not considered sufficient to warrant taxonomic separation at the species or subspecies level from the nominate species T. (A.) aukletae. The same hypopus occurring across different families of birds is unusual in the Hypoderatidae. The diversity in hosts from several orders of birds, low intensities of infection in the two species from Africa, low prevalences in alcids from Russia, and rarity of these hypoderatids in all surveyed hosts leads us to speculate that the true host affinities of species in the genus Thalassornectes are unknown. The alternative consideration is that these are simply uncommon species that are very host specific.

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USGS1985

Reconnaissance of water quality at a U.S. Department of Energy site, Pinellas County, Florida

Sanitary and industrial wastes at the Pinellas Plant of the U.S. Department of Energy, prior to December 1982, were combined, treated, and disposed of by ponding and spray irrigation on a 10-acre tract within the plant site. Prior to 1972, the treated wastes were released to surface drainage features. An electromagnetic survey for ground conductivity was made to identify changes in the ground conductivity that may be due to the spray irrigation disposal operations. Water samples from four test wells drilled into the surficial aquifer and the two disposal ponds and bottom material from the ponds were analyzed for priority and nonpriority pollutants, total organic carbon, volatile organic carbon, herbicides, insecticides, trace metals, nutrients, and major constituents. Overall, concentrations of constituents in the water samples were (1) less than the detection limits, (2) within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency quality criteria for water, or (3) within the range of results for a designated background water-quality site. Concentrations of 12 priority pollutants were found to be considerably above detection limits. Concentrations of these compounds, mostly coal-tar derivatives, ranged from 220 to 5,500 micrograms per kilogram; the detection limit for these compounds is 10 micrograms per kilogram. Included in these compounds were anthracene, pyrenes, and chrysene.

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USGS1981

Water-quality data from a landfill-leachate treatment and disposal site, Pinellas County, Florida, January 1979-August 1980

Water-quality data collected between January 1979 and August 1980 at the landfill leachate treatment site in Pinellas County, Fla., are presented. Data include field and laboratory measurements of physical properties, major chemical constituents , nitrogen and phosphorus species, chemical oxygen demand, trace metals, coliform bacteria, taxonomy of macroinvertebrates and phytoplankton, and chlorophyll analyses. Data were collected as part of a study to determine water-quality changes resulting from aeration and ponding of leachate pumped from landfill burial trenches and for use in determining the rate of movement and quality changes as the leachate migrates through the surficial aquifer. Samples were collected from 81 surficial-aquifer water-quality monitoring wells constructed in January 1975, February 1979, and March 1979, and 8 surface-water quality monitoring sites established in January 1975, February 1978, and November 1978.

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USGS1979

Water-quality data from a landfill, Pinellas County, Florida, May 1975-October 1977

Ground water in and near a proposed landfill site can become contaminated by leachates from the fill material. Realizing that potential, Pinellas County entered into a cooperative investigation with the U.S. Geological Survey to determine background water-quality conditions, and to evaluate the potential effects of landfill leachate on the quality of ground water at a landfill site in Pinellas County (fig. 1). The investigation started in May 1975 and landfill operation began in November 1975. The purpose of this report is to make available well records, logs of wells, and surface- and ground-water quality data for planning purposes, and to provide basic data for a subsequent interpretive report. From May 1975 to October 1977, surface- and ground-water samples were collected periodically to obtain information on certain background water-quality conditions at the landfill site. Specific conductance and pH were determined in the field. Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, trace metals, chemical and biochemical oxygen demands, coliform, select herbicides and pesticides, and nitrogen and phosphorus species were determined in the laboratory.

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