Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida

Hess, D W; Donoghue, J F; Cooper, W T; Fievre, A

Title: Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida

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Abstract

The Apalachicola River of northwest Florida is Florida's largest river system and fourth largest in the northern Gulf of Mexico basin. The river drains a 51,000 sq. km. watershed in the Piedmont and Gulf Coastal Plain of Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Throughout much of the Tertiary the Apalachicola has been the principal source of clastic sediment to the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Within the past two millennia the river has established and built an extensive delta that is rapidly infilling the Apalachicola Bay estuary. Today virtually all of the river's annual sediment load of more than one million metric tons is being deposited in the delta and bay, with negligible release of sediment to the gulf of Mexico. A set of sediment cores from Apalachicola Bay was analyzed for texture, mineralogy organic contaminants and lead-210 sedimentation rate. Sedimentation rates in the range of 10 mm/yr document a rapid rate of infilling. Organic carbon in the sediments correlates roughly with distance from delta distributaries. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and chlorinated pesticides and herbicides are found at or below trace levels and only near the tops of the cores, indicating that contaminant levels are low in the estuarine sediments.

Authors:

Hess, D W; Donoghue, J F; Cooper, W T; Fievre, A ^[1]

Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)

Publication Date:: Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI Identifier:: 6819125

Report Number(s):: CONF-9404221-
Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7592; CODEN: GAAPBC

Resource Type:: Conference

Journal Name:: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 26:4; Conference: 43. annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America, Blacksburg, VA (United States), 7-8 Apr 1994; Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7592

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 58 GEOSCIENCES; BAYS; SEDIMENTS; FLORIDA; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; DEPOSITION; MINERALOGY; ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS; RIVER DELTAS; COASTAL REGIONS; COASTAL WATERS; DEVELOPED COUNTRIES; GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS; NORTH AMERICA; SURFACE WATERS; USA; 580000* - Geosciences

Citation Formats


                    Hess, D W, Donoghue, J F, Cooper, W T, and Fievre, A. Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida.  United States: N. p., 1994. 
        Web.

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                    Hess, D W, Donoghue, J F, Cooper, W T, & Fievre, A. Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida.  United States.

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                    Hess, D W, Donoghue, J F, Cooper, W T, and Fievre, A. 1994.  
        "Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida".  United States.

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@article{osti_6819125,

  title        = {Recent sediments and contaminant history of Apalachicola Bay, Florida},

  author       = {Hess, D W and Donoghue, J F and Cooper, W T and Fievre, A},

  abstractNote = {The Apalachicola River of northwest Florida is Florida's largest river system and fourth largest in the northern Gulf of Mexico basin. The river drains a 51,000 sq. km. watershed in the Piedmont and Gulf Coastal Plain of Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Throughout much of the Tertiary the Apalachicola has been the principal source of clastic sediment to the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Within the past two millennia the river has established and built an extensive delta that is rapidly infilling the Apalachicola Bay estuary. Today virtually all of the river's annual sediment load of more than one million metric tons is being deposited in the delta and bay, with negligible release of sediment to the gulf of Mexico. A set of sediment cores from Apalachicola Bay was analyzed for texture, mineralogy organic contaminants and lead-210 sedimentation rate. Sedimentation rates in the range of 10 mm/yr document a rapid rate of infilling. Organic carbon in the sediments correlates roughly with distance from delta distributaries. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and chlorinated pesticides and herbicides are found at or below trace levels and only near the tops of the cores, indicating that contaminant levels are low in the estuarine sediments.},

  doi          = {},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6819125},
  journal      = {Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)},

  issn         = {0016-7592},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 26:4,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1994},

  month        = {Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1994}

}

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