CONTENTS 



PREFACE iii 



SUMMARY iv 



LIST OF FIGURES viii 



LIST OF TABLES xii 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv 



CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 



1.1 Purpose and Organization of the Report 1 



1.2 The Study Area 1 



1.3 Energy and Materials Flow Through the Coastal Watershed . . 3 



1.4 Conceptual Model of Regional Ecological Processes 5 



CHAPTER 2. PHYSIOGRAPHY 



2.1 The Lower Everglades 13 



2.2 Taylor Slough/Florida Bay 17 



2.3 The Florida Keys 21 



CHAPTER 3. CLIMATIC FACTORS 



3.1 Introduction 25 



3.2 Rainfall 25 



3.3 Winds 31 



3.4 Temperature 34 



3.5 Relative Humidity 35 



3.6 Solar Radiation 36 



3.7 Hurricanes 38 



3.8 Air Pollution 42 



CHAPTER 4. GEOLOGY 



4.1 Structure and Geologic Setting 47 



4.2 Tertiary Stratigraphy 49 



4.3 Pleistocene Sediments 49 



4.4 Holocene Sediments 56 



4.41 Everglades and Southwest Coast 56 



4.42 Taylor Slough/Florida Bay 61 



4.43 Florida Keys 64 



CHAPTER 5. HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY 



5.1 Historical Perspective 71 



5.2 Conservation Area 3 72 



5.3 Shark River Slough and Associated Estuaries 77 



5.4 Whitewater Bay 80 



5.5 Taylor Slough 81 



5.6 Florida Bay 83 



5.7 Florida Keys 86 



