Floating bell used to measure air: sea CO2 gas fluxes in whitings. The bell attaches to a LiCor CO2 gas analyzer. [view enlargement]

Currently, USGS researchers are in the process of organizing a multiagency, multidisciplinary investigation on the Gulf of Mexico, including geological, biological and water quality issues. Many of the Nation’s estuaries have been environmentally stressed since the turn of the century and will continue to be impacted in the future. The environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico is directly linked to the water quality and condition of it’s estuaries. Thus, estuarine research will be an essential component of USGS research in the Gulf of Mexico. Tampa Bay, one of the Gulf of Mexico's largest estuaries, exemplifies the threats that our estuaries have faced, and will soon be altered by additional anthropogenic modifications planned to begin in 2001. State agencies and universities are currently participating in Tampa Bay monitoring and research efforts, and have identified a critical need for USGS expertise to provide baseline geological and geochemical information.

As part of the Gulf of Mexico investigation, researchers at the USGS Center for Coastal Geology in St. Petersburg are developing a project that will partner with other state and federal agencies and universities, the USGS BRD, WRD, and NMD, and the USGS National Wetlands Research Center (USGS-NWRC) through a workshop and project planning meetings to establish a Gulf of Mexico estuaries assessment and monitoring project using Tampa Bay as a model. The primary objective of Tampa Bay Pilot Study is to evaluate and develop an integrated science strategy that can be applied to other Gulf of Mexico estuaries.

The Gulf of Mexico Estuaries - Tampa Bay Pilot Study will integrate geological and biogeochemical information with existing research efforts by other agencies to establish links between geological, biological and chemical processes in the Bay. One of many key issues in Tampa Bay is the need to understand how water quality affects biological organisms that live on the seafloor in the bay. The SHARQ will be used as both a monitoring and experimental tool to help understand these relationships and provide the information necessary for resource managers to help maintain a healthy Tampa Bay environment.

Research has been funded in part by the USGS Geologic Division Coastal and Marine Geology and Place Based Studies Programs, Venture Capital Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy.