from MSL was determined by relating the water depth to a point of known 

 elevation on shore using a level and elevation rod. Temperature and 

 salinity were measured near the bottom at each site using an inductive 

 salinometer with a 500-foot cable. 



p 

 Taylor series sieves (phi interval) and a ROTAP were used for grain- 

 size analyses. About 50 ± 2 grams of material were sieved on the ROTAP'^ 

 for 10 minutes. Material retained on each sieve was weighed, and a 

 computer program for sediment-size analysis (Darby and Wobus , 1976) was 

 used to determine mean, sorting, skewness, and kurtosis. 



The total organic content of each sediment sample was determined 

 by the incineration method and the total carbonate content of each 

 sediment sample by the hydrochloric acid (HCI) method (Carver, 1971). 



III. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 



1. The Ocean Beach. 



a. Preliminary Sampling. Because different sampling and extraction 

 techniques were used, samples taken in August 1975 were not directly 

 comparable to the other four sets of samples and will not be discussed 

 here (see App . C) . 



b. Faunistics. Twenty- three species of macrofauna in five phyla 

 and 19 families were collected (Table 1). All but four of the macro- 

 faunal species were polychaetes or crustaceans. Several species of 

 meiofauna were also quantitated, but were not identified to the species 

 level . 



c. Species Abundance . The mean number of individuals per square 

 meter at each site during each season was calculated for all species 

 constituting more than 1 percent of the total macrofauna, and for the 

 total macrofauna (Tables 2 to 16) . The total macrofauna ranged from 



(site 3, transect II, October 1975) to 24,152 individuals per square 

 meter (site 8, transect II, June 1976). 



The swash zone fauna was dominated by E. tatpotda, an organism 

 uniquely adapted to the constant wave action and shifting bottom. The 

 'polychaete, S. squamata, was abundant in the deep parts of the swash 

 zone and between the swash zone and the surf zone (sites 3 and 4) 

 during June and July 1976. Donax sp. occasionally occurred in large 

 numbers in this area, especially during July 1976. 



The outer surf zone and the inner buildup zone, including the inner 

 rough and the outer planar bottom types (sites 5, 6, 7, and 8) were 

 dominated by S. squamata with up to 10,000 to 12,000 individuals per 

 square meter. Most species were collected in this area, and small speci- 

 mens of Donax sp. occasionally occurred with up to 6,000 individuals per 



20 



