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Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-25 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change

July 2, 2019
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by projecting future regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation along the Florida Reef Tract, Florida (FL). USGS staff used historical bathymetric point data from the 1930's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coast Survey, see Yates and others, 2017) and light detection and ranging (lidar)-derived data acquired in 2002 (Brock and others, 2006, 2007) to calculate historical seafloor elevation changes in the Upper Florida Keys (UFK) (Yates and others, 2017). Using those changes in seafloor elevation, annual rates of elevation change were calculated for 13 habitat types found in the UFK reef tract. The annual rate of mean elevation change for each habitat type was applied to a digital elevation model (DEM) extending from Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, FL that was modified from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Coastal Relief Model coastal DEM (NOAA, 2001) to project future seafloor elevation (from 2001) along the Florida Reef Tract. Grid resolution for the DEM is 3 arc second (approximately 90 meters). Data were collected under Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary permit FKNMS-2016-068.

For more information visit: Yates, K.K., Zawada, D.G., Smiley, N.A., and Tiling-Range, G., 2017, Divergence of seafloor elevation and sea level rise in coral reef ecosystems: Biogeosciences, v. 14, p. 1739-1772, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1739-2017.

Citation Information

Publication Year 2019
Title Projected Seafloor Elevation Along the Florida Reef Tract From Port St. Lucie to Marquesas Key, Florida-25 Years From 2001 Based on Historical Rates of Mean Elevation Change
DOI 10.5066/P98NDNB4
Authors Kimberly K Yates, David G Zawada, Stephanie R. Arsenault
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Digital Object Identifier Catalog
USGS Organization St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

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Kimberly Yates, Ph.D.

Senior Research Oceanographer
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone
727-502-8059

David Zawada, Ph.D.

Research Oceanographer
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone
727-502-8132

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