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GEOLOGIC DIVISION NEW PROJECT PROPOSAL- FY 2001
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Project Title: Gulf of Mexico Integrated Science - Tampa Bay Pilot Study
Project Type: SIR
Project Status: 1-DRAFT
Project Number: 7242-01
Project Start Date: 10/01/2001
Project End Date: 09/30/2002
Lead Project Chief: Yates, Kimberly K.
Email Address: kyates@usgs.gov
Phone: 727-803-8747
Fax: 727-803-2031
Mail Address: 600 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Prospectus Goals/Objective, Elements, Activities, Sub-activities: |
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Background Narratives - Project Summary
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 any of the Nation’s estuaries have been environmentally stressed since the turn of the century and will continue to be impacted in the future.
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Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Gateway to Tampa Bay |
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The environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico, with a drainage area encompassing more than 55% of the total area of the conterminous United States, is directly linked to the water quality and condition of its 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 currently participating in Tampa Bay monitoring and research efforts have identified a critical need for USGS expertise to provide baseline geological and geochemical information necessary for establishing links between geological, biological, and chemical processes in the bay. This project 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.
Information and data from the Tampa Bay Pilot Study will contribute directly to the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s National Estuaries Assessment Project. This project will develop protocols for establishing geological, ecological, and water quality baselines and monitoring from which the current and future health of Tampa Bay and other estuaries can be assessed. The integrated science approach developed through this pilot study will position the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program to pursue additional estuarine research needs identified through the data assessment phase of the National Estuaries Assessment Project. |
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