GULF OF MEXICO 



149 



extraction of this material at the plant constructed 

 in 1940 at Freeport, Texas. 



Calcitini ran^inK ^rom 427 to 535 mg/kg was 

 reported by iiipman (1929) in two samples collected 

 at the Dry Tortugas in July 1922. Calcium 

 carbonate precipitation in the water in the 

 Marquesas lajioon when the pH was 8.46 was 

 observed by McClendon (1928, p. 258). The 

 mechanism of this process was studied by various 

 chemists and bacteriologists at the Dry Tortugas 

 and elsewhere (McClendon 1918, pp. 252-258; 

 Gee 1934; Gee and Feltham 1934). 



Hydrogen sulfide was indicated in West Galves- 

 ton Bay by blackening of the white lead paint on 

 boats at a time of animal mortality (Gunter 1942). 

 Tests for hydrogen sulfide were made on the red 

 tide water, but no clearly positive results were 

 found (Gunter, Williams, Davis, and Smith, 1938, 

 p. 320). 



Iron ranging from 0.12 to 1.50 mg/kg was re- 

 ported by Lipman (1929) in two samples from the 

 Dry Tortugas. 



Magnesium content of 1,300 mg/kg was reported 

 by Shiglcy in this book in the Gulf water at Freeport, 

 Texas, where plants were erected for the com- 

 mercial extraction of this metal from sea water.' 



Various organic compounds have been reported 

 present in Gulf waters. Gunter (1942) concluded 

 that the mortality of marine organisms in an 

 inshore area was caused by oxygen deficiency as- 

 sociated with decay of organic materials and the 

 accumulation of toxic products of anaerobic 

 decomposition. Riley (1937) reported from 0.23 

 to 20.60 mg/L of organic matter in the Gulf water 

 in the area near the mouth of the Mississippi 

 River. Both plankton and organic detritus ad- 

 sorbed significant amounts of copper. Woodcock 

 (1948) studied an unidentified human respiratory 

 irritant, probably a product of the blooming 

 Gymnodinium brevis which was carried ashore in 

 minute droplets of sea water. A carbohydrate 

 which showed some of the chemical properties 

 of arabinose was found in concentrations from 2 

 to 25 mg/L in the natural sea water supply at 

 the U. S. Fisheries Station at Pensacola, Florida 

 (Collier, Ray, and Magnitzky, 1950). 



Products of industrial and sewage pollution have 

 been reported in Texas coastal waters (Burr 

 1945a, b; Wise, Winston, and Culli, 1945). 



Potassium concentrations of 404 and 435 mg/kg 

 were reported in two samples of sea water from 

 the Dry Tortugas (jjipman 1929). 



Silicon concentrations of 9.80 and 11.10 mg. 

 SiOj per kilogram were reported in the same 

 samples (Lipman 1929). 



Solids reported by Lipman (1929) from analyses 

 of the two samples of Dry Tortugas water are 

 summarized in table 6. 



Table 6. — Solids, mg/kg, in Dry Tortugas sea water 



Distribution of dissolved solids was studied 

 at 26 stations in the coastal bays from New 

 Orleans to Biloxi by Gunter (1950) who reported 

 values ranging from 92 to 29,164 parts per million 

 or milligrams per kilogram. 



SUMMARY 



Salinity distribution in the Gulf of Mexico is 

 fairly well known except for the general absence 

 of data on seasonal variations in offshore waters.'" 

 The same could be said of oxygen distribution. 

 Phosphorus distribution is known only for four 

 small areas: Florida Straits, Yucatdn Channel, 

 central west coast of Florida, and the Mississippi 

 Delta region. Nitrate, nitrite, pH, alkalinity, 

 carbon dioxide distributions are known only in 

 the Yucatdn Channel-Florida Straits corner of the 

 Gulf and there for only one or two seasons of the 

 year. Other chemical data are scarce, scattered, 

 or absent. 



It is expected that considerable information 

 will soon become available with the publication of 

 results of studies sponsored by the chemical and 

 oil companies and of those being conducted by the 

 research vessels and in the shore laboratories of 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service. 



' The extraction of bromine and magnesium from sea water is discussed in 

 an article by C. M. Shiglcy, The Recovery of Minerals from Sea Water, p. 153. 



■0 Seasonal and local variations of chlorinity and salinity in offshore waters 

 of a portion of the Oulf of Mexico are being studied by the American Petro- 

 leum Institute (Project 61) through Scripps Institution of Oceanography ol 

 the University of California and the Department of Oceanography of the 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Salinity data can be found 

 in the Progress Reports of the Department of Oceanography, Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College of Texas, Project 34, for October 1 to December 31, 

 1951. and January 1 to March 31, 1952. 



