other uses is discussed, and the early history of the exploration and 

 development of the Gulf of Mexico and the coastal area of Alabama is 

 reviewed. 



Maps are presented to show the Alabama estuarine study area and the 

 surface sediment types, pollution sources, oyster beds, isotherms, 

 isohalines and certain economic characteristics of the area. Data on 

 climate, tides, open water surface area and average depth, tidal marsh, 

 stream discharge, domestic and industrial wastes, navigation channels, 

 commercial fisheries, and other characteristics of the study area are 

 presented in tables. 



Alabama estuaries are located in Mobile and Baldwin counties, which 

 are underlain by the Citronelle Formation, which contains estuarine 

 deposits of Miocene Age. The climate is strongly influenced by the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Rainfall at Mobile averages about 62 inches a year, 

 and the average annual temperature is about 68°F, The mean diurnal 

 tide range in the study area is about 0.5 to 1.8 feet. Mobile Bay, 

 the predominant estuarine system, has a surface area of 264,470 acres 

 and a drainage basin of over 44,000 square miles. 



The Alabama estuarine study area has 397,353 acres of open water 

 (a volume of 3,833,489 acre-feet at mean high water), 34,614 acres of 

 tidal marsh, 433 miles of bay and open water shoreline, 306.8 miles of 

 streams, 3,064 acres of natural oyster reefs, approximately 924 acres 

 of leased oyster bottoms and 1,050 acres of riparian bottoms used to 

 grow oysters. In July 1970, there were 23 sources of municipal wastes 

 and 31 sources of industrial waste that discharged a minimum of 827.3 

 million gallons of effluents daily into the estuaries and nearby 

 contributory streams. The effluents were equivalent to untreated sewage 

 of 634,190 persons. There were 73,594 acres of estuarine water 

 permanently closed to the harvest of shellfish, 143 miles of navigation 

 channels, and 2,152 acres of emergent spoil banks and other filled 

 areas in the estuaries in 1970. Total human population of Mobile and 

 Baldwin counties in 1960 was 366,400. It is expected to increase to 

 629,000 by the year 1995. 



A second section of the study appears in the Alabama Marine Resources 

 Bulletin No. 7 and deals with the hydrology of the estuarine areas. 

 (A. A. and B.W.) 



Keywords: estuarine areas, nursery areas, fishery resources, Alabama 



I-D-7 



Woodwell, G.M., and E.V. Pecan. 1973. Flax Pond: an estuarine marsh. 



Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, Report No. BNL-50397. 7 pp, 



Research has been developed around an estuarine, marsh. Flax Pond, 

 in the Village of Old Field on Long Island's north shore. The marsh 



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