Dissolved oxygen values were higher in November-December than in May, 

 reflecting the colder water temperatures. For November-December, dissolved 

 oxygen values ranged from 7.1 to 8.6 parts per million and for May they 

 ranged from 4.8 to 5.8 parts per million. Overall, the highest dissolved 

 oxygen values were recorded at the surface of the shallow stations. All 

 stations appeared to have relatively high dissolved oxygen values (near 

 saturation) , indicating that dissolved oxygen would not be a limiting factor 

 in the distribution and abundance of the benthic fauna in the study area. 



Spatially, all physical parameters varied very little for both 

 sampling periods. Additionally, temperature, salinity, and dissolved 

 oxyj.en were not indicative of stressful conditions. Therefore, they are 

 not considered as controlling factors in the distribution of benthic fauna 

 within the study area, provided the observations made during November- 

 December and May are characteristic of conditions during the remainder of 

 the year. 



b. Comparison to Saloman's (.1976) Study . Dissolved oxygen was not 

 measured during Saloman's (1976) study. The values for temperature and 

 salinity recorded during this study compare very favorably to the data com- 

 piled by Saloman (1976) . The ranges of salinity and temperature are nearly 

 identical for comparable sampling dates. As observed during this study, 

 Saloman's data exhibited only low levels of spatial variation. 



2. Topography . 



Beach profiles were constructed for each of the nine transects (Fig. 4). 

 Two additional stations sampled were used as nourishment borrow sites in July 

 and August 1976. A special effort was made at these stations to detect any 

 irregularities of bottom profile or type of substrata. Numerous nearshore 

 to offshore as well as shoreline parallel bathymetric profiles were run 

 over each borrow site to detect any depressions or irregular contours. No 

 depressions or changes in bottom t3rpe could be detected either by fathometer 

 traces or visual inspection by divers. The borrow sites were indistinguish- 

 able from undisturbed areas within the limits of detection methods used. 



3. Sediment Characteristics . 



a. Present Study . A total of 98 sediment samples from the November- 

 December 1979 and May 1980 collections were analyzed for particle-size 

 distribution, organic carbon, and carbonate. Summaries of the results of 

 these analyses are presented in Table 7 (November-December 1979) and Table 

 8 (May 1980) . A complete breakdown of the particle-size distribution by 

 phi interval is given in Appendix A. Little variation was evident on a 

 seasonal basis. For the November-December sampling mean grain size ranged 

 from 1.35 to 2.50 phi; mean grain size ranged from 1.44 to 2.91 phi for the 

 May sampling. Spatially, sediments gradually changed from coarser to finer 

 grain size on transects from the shore to the outer stations. This change 

 is due primarily to a shift from medium to fine sand particles. Most of 

 the stations for both sampling periods were moderately to moderately well 

 sorted , being somewhat coarse-skewed . The bulk of the sediments within the 

 study area consisted of fine, medium, and coarse quartz sand. 



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