Table 1. Distribution and area of major bodies of water along the coast of Franklin 

 County (north Florida) with areas of oysters, grassbeds, and contiguous marshes. 



temperature minima occur from December to 

 February; monthly variance is highest 

 during winter. Whereas peak summer 

 temperatures are comparable from year to 

 year, winter minima vary annually (Figure 

 1?). During years of extreme cold, 

 temperature ranged from 5^ C to a maximum 

 of 33° C over a P-month period. In 

 addition to strong seasonal components of 

 changes in water temoerature, periodic 

 winter lows occurred at relatively regular 

 (8-11 yr) intervals. In recent times, the 

 winter of 1Q76-77 was particularly cold. 

 The seasonal temoerature cycles are 

 evidently superimposed over long-term 

 temperature trends. 



The distribution of salinity in the 

 bay at any given time is affected 

 primarily by river flow, local rainfall, 

 basin configuration, wind speed and 

 direction, and water currents. The 

 principal source o^ fresh water for the 

 estuary is the Apalachicola River, 

 although there is evidence that local 

 runoff and ground water flows affect the 

 habitat characteristics of the bay system 

 in local areas (Livingston unpublished 

 data). In terms of salinity, the bay 

 system may be divided into two main 

 provinces: the open Gulf waters of 

 eastern St. George Sound and the brackish 

 (river-diluted) oortions of western St. 

 George Sound, Apalachicola Bay, East Bay, 

 and St. Vincent Sound. 



o 



X 200 



o 100 



UJ 



> 



cc 



50 



|iiiiiiiiiii| run nil i|Miiiiiiiii|iiiriiiiiii|iniriiiMi|liillililll|niilliilll|iillllillljl 



MjSOMJS;iM.i:, ;. MJSDMJSDMJSOMJSOMJSOMJSO 

 1972 1973 197-4 197^ i976 i977 1976 1979 1980 



TIME 



Figure 12. Apalachicola River flow and 

 average minimum air temperature data 

 provided by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

 and the NOAA Environmental Data Service, 

 Apalachicola, Fla. 



15 



