4 research outputs found
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Annotated bibliography of the Corpus Christi Bay estuary
January 1983To Texas A&M Sea Grant College Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TexasMarine Scienc
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Final report : mass balance of Campeche oil intruding into Texas bays and estuaries through Aransas Inlet
To National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationSeptember 11, 1979The Aransas Inlet and adjoining channels were sampled for surface and subsurface oil concentrations transported in and out of the estuarine complex on flood and ebb tides during the diel period 30-31 August 1979. The results suggested that although the tidal currents were influential in moving oil during this period, the transport due to wind factors also played an important role in moving oil through the channels. In terms of mass balance oil transport over an entire tidal cycle, the surface plankton tow results indicated that only 35% of the oil quantities transported into the bays and estuaries through the Aransas Inlet system were returned on the following ebb tide. Subsurface tows for oil collection at 2-3 m water depth indicated the presence of oil in concentrations ranging from 3.3% to 119% of surface oil concentrations measured during the same time period.Marine Scienc
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South Texas Outer Continental Shelf environmental studies, 1975-1977
In 1974, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) , as the administrative agency responsible for leasing submerged federal lands, was authorized to initiate a National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Environmental Studies Program. As part of this national program, the BLM developed the Marine Environmental Study Plan for the South Texas Outer Continental Shelf (STOCS) to add to our understanding of this ecosystem. This plan was developed to meet the following four specific study objectives: 1) provide information for predicting the effects of OCS oil and gas development activities upon the components of the ecosystem; 2) provide a description of the physical, chemical, geological, and biological components, and their interactions, against which subsequent changes or impacts could be compared; 3) identify critical parameters that should be incorporated into a monitoring program; and. 4) identify and conduct experimental and problem-oriented studies as required to meet the basic objectives. BLM contracted the University of Texas at Austin to act for and on behalf of a consortium program of research conducted by Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas, to implement the Environmental Study Plan. This plan called for an intensive multidisciplinary three-year study (1975-1977) to characterize the temporal and spatial variation of the shelf marine ecosystem beyond 10 m water depth. The central theme of the STOCS study was to provide an understanding of the living and non-living resources of the shelf. In order to approach the objectives outlined above a broad program was designed which included: a) water mass characterization; b) pelagic primary and secondary productivity as described by floral and faunal abundances, standing crop, and nutrient levels; c) sediment texture characterization; d) benthic productivity as described by infaunal and epifaunal densities; e) natural petroleum hydrocarbon levels in biota, water and sediment; and, f) natural trace metal levels in biota and particulate matter.Submitted to the Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C. ... by The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas Marine LaboratoryContract AA551-CT8-51January 1980Marine Scienc
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Quantification of extensive freshwater input to estuarine benthos
During a 24 hr period beginning with the evening of 18 September 1979 an extensive low pressure system engulfed the south Texas coast. The weather system impacted the Corpus Christi Bay area with tropical storm intensity rains that reached as much as a 33 cm accumulation before the storm ended (NOAA, U.S. Weather Bureau, Corpus Christi, Texas, personal communication). The results of this storm system produced excessive riverine input and local land runoff to Corpus Christi Bay. This storm event, with its associated high freshwater inflow to the estuarine ecosystem, proved to be a relatively unique event to the area. Freshwater inputs to this system had not occurred with such intensity since Hurricane Beulah in 1967 (Flint and Rabalais, 1981b). The availability of an historical benthic record stimulated interest in evaluating the effect of this storm event upon the ecosystem's productivity as characterized by the benthos. By continuing a study design after September 1979 similar to that used for the historical record, we hoped to document the changes that occurred in the benthic habitat and determine the effect of these changes on total ecosystem productivity, especially fishery yieldsMarine Scienc