Abstract Introduction > Setting Acknowledgements Material and Methods Results Discussion Significant Findings, Implications And Future Work References Appendices PDF version

Biscayne Bay is an elongate, shallow (1-3 m) bay bounded on the west by the south Florida Coast formed by the Atlantic Coastal Ridge made of Miami Limestone, and on the east by the northern Florida Keys formed by the Key Largo Limestone (Figure 1). The bay can be divided informally into northern, central and southern regions. Our investigations were conducted in the central and southern portions of the Bay, including Biscayne National Park. These areas are relatively undisturbed in comparison to the northern Bay near the Miami area.

Sedimentation is controlled mainly by bedrock topography, Thalassia (seagrass) distribution, winds, tides, and longshore currents. Modern bottom sediments consist of quartz sand, carbonate sand, and mud (especially in southern Card and Barnes Sounds) with large areas of little or no Holocene sediment accumulation (see Wanless, 1969; Tedesco and Wanless, 1991; and Wanless and others, 1995; for detailed discussion of sediment composition, distribution and genesis).

Figure 1. Location of cores collected in 2002 (yellow dots) and 1996-97 (white dots). Blue dash line represents boundary of Biscayne National Park. (Image cropped from Jones, et al. 2001). Detailed digital ortho photo quads (DOQ) of A. No Name Bank; B. Featherbed Bank (western side); and C. Card Bank (northern side). (DOQs cropped from images obtained from http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer. A = Perrine FL 7.5" quadrangle, NE quadrant, acquired 1/15/1994. B=Perrine FL 7.5" quadrangle, SE quadrant, acquired 1/15/1994. C=Card Sound FL 7.5" quadrangle, NW quadrant, acquired 1/15/1994.) [click on each image for a larger version or view a larger version of the entire figure]