Publications

IntroductionThe South Florida Ecosystem Program is one of several study areas within the USGS Ecosystem Program. The Ecosystem Program was established to enable the USGS to enhance its scientific assistance to resource managers who require an improved scientific information base to resolve or prevent complex resource conflicts or environmental problems in specific ecosystem sites. Through 3-5-year

Two electromagnetic surface geophysical techniques were used to explore the ground-water resources of Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico—a 55-square-kilometer island located between Puerto Rico and Hispañiola, Isla de Mona is a tectonically uplifted carbonate plateau of Neogene age that has an average elevation of about 50 meters above mean sea level. This plateau is bounded by vertical cliffs except on th

We present a simple method for estimation of long-term mean denudation rates using in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be in fluvial sediments. Procedures are discussed to account for the effects of soil bioturbation, mass wasting and attenuation of cosmic rays by biomass and by local topography. Our analyses of 10Be in quartz from bedrock outcrops, soils, mass-wasting sites and riverine sediment from t

No abstract available.

A preliminary assessment of subsurface injection, storage and recovery of fresh canal water was made in the naturally brackish lower Hawthorn aquifer in Cape Coral, southwestern Florida. A digital modeling approach was used for this preliminary assessment, incorporating available data on hydrologic conditions, aquifer properties, and water quality to simulate density-dependent ground-water flow an

This video provides a thorough discussion of storm surge, one of the most dangerous elements of hurricanes and major storms. This video illustrates basic storm surge principles, shows actual footage of storm surge damage and relates high-water level data collection by the U.S. Geological Survey to the task of recreating the storm surge event.

No abstract available.

San Salvador Island, Bahamas is a 161 Km2 tectonically stable late Quaternary carbonate island located 600 km east-southeast of Miami FL. San Salvador contains numerous flank margin caves (phreatic karst features) that developed primarily in late Pleistocene eolianites. These caves developed during a short time in versy small fresh-water lenses. Cave elevations and Uranium-series ages from stalagm

Twenty-four wells (21 locations) were core drilled into the limestone beneath the Keys, reef tract, and outer reefs to determine if sewage effluents injected in Class V wells onshore are reaching offshore reef areas via underground flow. These wells were fitted with PVC casings and well screens and were sampled every three months for a period of one year. Analyses showed consistent hypersalinity

The Floridan aquifer system in southeastern Florida consists of the Upper Floridan aquifer, the middle confining unit, and the Lower Floridan aquifer. An upper zone of brackish water and a lower zone of water with a salinity similar to that of seawater are present in the Floridan aquifer system. The brackish-water zone is defined as that in which water has a dissolved-solids concentration of less

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a method to evaluate the spatial and temporal statistics of a continuous ground-water level recorder network in Broward County, Florida. Because the Broward County network is sparse for most spatial statistics, a technique has been developed to define polygons for each well that represent the area monitored by the well within specified criteria. The boundar

Landslides are triggered by factors such as heavy rainfall, seismic activity, and construction on hillslopes. The leading cause of landslides in Puerto Rico is intense and/or prolonged rainfall. A rainfall threshold for rainfall-triggered landsliding is delimited by 256 storms that occurred between 1959 and 1991 in the central mountains of Puerto Rico, where mean annual rainfall is close to or in