somewhere in between, being addi- 

 tionally influenced by the Gulf Loop 

 Current (Marszalek et al. 1977). 



Certain water quality varia- 

 tions are best understood in rela- 

 tionship to transects running from 

 the islands offshore to the outer 

 reef tract. Figure 43 is a summary 

 of the physical properties associat- 

 ed with various habitats commonly 

 found between the Florida Keys' out- 



er shelf and the islands. Habitats 

 are those listed in Table 12. This 

 figure serves to point out the vari- 

 ety and complexity of environmental 

 conditions existing from reef to 

 shore, particularly when compared to 

 the variation exhibited along the 

 elongated axis of the Florida Keys. 

 In general, turbidity, temperature 

 variation, and salinity variation 

 increase from the shelf break to the 

 nearshore environment. 



HABITAT 



PROFILE 



ANNUAL 

 TEMPERATURE 

 RANGE C 



K 5 



■H 



ANNUAL 

 SALINITY 

 RANGE % 



CIRCULATION 



SEMI 

 REST 



OPEN 



\ 



TURBULENCE 



MAX 



MIN 

 T5(A7 



=^>- 



-s 



TURBIDITY 



MIN 



SUBSTRATE 

 STABILITY 



MAX 



Figure 43. Summary of physical /chemical conditions along the south Florida 

 shelf margin in the Florida Keys (adapted from Enos 1977). 



101 



