laterally or vertically in sediments as old as 3600 yrs. Rhombohedral dolomite and 
hexagonal prisms of low-magnesium calcite are reported from these sediments for the 
first time. Metastable aragonite and high-magnesium calcite together constitute 
approximately 85% of the carbonate sediment; the remaining 15% is made up of low- 
magnesium calcite and dolomite. The metastable minerals exhibit no evidence of 
recrystallization and appear to be the most stable carbonates in this environment. 
Origin of aragonite and high-magnesium calcite is attributed to mollusks and 
foraminifers, whereas that of low-magnesium calcite and dolomite is not known. 
1959 0 
Thomas, L. P. (1959) A systematic study of the shallow water brittle stars of the family 
Amphiuridae of Florida. M. S. Thesis, University of Miami., Coral Gables, FL. 156 pp. 
[DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] This study is, in some respects, 
an enlargement over the originally planned study of shallow water South Florida 
amphiurids. Although ‘shallow water' in this case refers to that portion of the bottom 
from the intertidal zone to 20 - 30 ft, the author has made no distinction between true 
shallow water species and specimens of deep-water species which have strayed into 
shallow water. Too little is known concerning the distribution of the Florida 
Amphiuridae to make such a discrimination in more than a few species; however, 
suspected deep-water species are noted as such in the text. The study area, from Ft. 
Myers on the West Coast to Lake Worth on the East Coast, has provided the author with 
all the Florida species save two, of these, Amphiura fibulata Koehler, is known only 
from the type taken in five and a half fathoms off Key West. Amphiodia rhabdota H. L. 
Clark, originally known from the type at Tortugas, was reported from Biscayne Bay 
previously. These two species have been included in order that a complete study of the 
fauna might be produced. Besides those species previously known from Florida, two 
species known only from Tobago, Amphipholis pachybactera H. L. Clark are included. 
Two other species, Ophionephthya limicola Lutken and Ophiophragmus pulcher\-\. L. 
Clark, formerly known only from the Tortugas, have been found to be common in 
Biscayne. Ophionephthys limicola in particular is a dominant species of the level bottom 
community. A fifth species, Ophiophragmus septus Lutke, taken off Miami Beach has 
previously been recorded only from Cape Hatteras, Tobago, and St. Thomas. 
1 959 
Wallis, O. L. (1959) Research and interpretation of marine areas of the US. National Park 
Service. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. . 11:134-8. 
This citation discusses activities of the National Park Service and marine research 
projects underway or anticipated (in 1959) in the Everglades National Park. 
1959, 1962 
Taft, W. H., and J. W. Harbaugh (1964) Modern carbonate sediments of southern Florida, 
Bahamas, and Espirtu Santo Island, Baja, California: A comparison of their mineralogy and 
chemistry. Stanford Univ. Publ., Geol. Sci., 8(2). 133 pp. 
The mineralogy and chemistry of modern, unconsolidated carbonate sediments have 
been studied in southern Florida, parts of the Bahama Islands region, and Espiritu Santo 
Island, Baja California. Sampling in Florida took place in 1959 and 1962. The principal 
purpose of the study has been to better understand the relationships of the different 
carbonate minerals (aragonite, dolomite, high-magnesium calcite and low-magnesium 
calcite) in different sedimentary environments, and the behavior of the inherently 
unstable carbonate minerals, aragonite and high-magnesium calcite, which tend, over 
long periods of time, to be transformed to dolomite and low-magnesium calcite. In 
southern Florida, studies were conducted in Florida Bay, Whitewater Bay, the Ten 
Thousand Islands area, Lake Ingraham, and the shoal area west of Key West. In the 
149 
