productivity. Recovery after impact appears to be slow. Land planning and resource 
management efforts to protect seagrass habitats have been either lacking or largely 
ineffectual in the state as a whole. In some areas, such as the Apalachicola estuary, a 
comprehensive research and management effort has been developed and could provide a 
model for future planning in Florida, although the long-term effectiveness of such 
programs remains untested. Nevertheless, in a few decades, human activities have 
eliminated significant proportions of existing seagrass meadows in Florida. Based on 
past encroachment and projected population increases, the outlook for remaining 
seagrass beds is bleak. 
1987 0 
Mitchell-Tapping, H. J. (1987) Application of tidal mudflat model to Sunniland Formation 
(Lower Cretaceous) of south Florida. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. . 70:1120. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY. DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] For many 
years, the Lower Cretaceous Sunniland oil-producing fields have been interpreted as 
reef deposits. Petrologic evidence from cores from field and wildcat wells strongly 
indicates, on the basis of faunal composition and character, that the fields are produced 
from moundlike shoals. These shoals are considered to have been deposited in a mudflat 
environment similar to that of present-day Florida Bay. This present-day Florida Bay 
analog is used to determine the various environmental subzones and controls on the 
deposition of the Sunniland Formation. This concept of using a model together with a 
modern analog can be a powerful tool in the exploration of stratigraphic traps. A 
petrologic and petrophysical study of the Sunniland Formation in the wells that have 
been drilled in the Florida Bay and Keys areas was made to extend the model and its 
application throughout the South Florida basin. The evaluation of these wells has 
produced new insights into the tectonics of this basin and its relationship to the 
Bahamas and Caribbean areas. 
1987 0 
Mitterer, R. N., I. P. Dzou, R. M. Miranda, and M. E. Caughey (1987) Extractable and 
pyrolyzed hydrocarbons in shallow-water carbonate sediments, Florida Bay, Florida. 
Advances in organic geochemistry . Part I, Organic geochemistry in petroleum exploration. 
Proc., 13th international meeting on organic geochemistry. L. Mattavelli, and L. Novelli 
(eds.). Organic Geochemistry . 13(1 -3):283-94. 
[DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] A three-dimensional organic 
geochemical survey conducted in Florida Bay, a subtropical carbonate environment with 
multiple sources of organic matter, illustrates the hydrocarbon source potential of 
shallow water carbonate sediments and the effect of multiple biochemical sources on 
the organic sedimentary imprint. Organic carbon (TOC) in the sediments averages about 
one per cent. Concentrations of extractable organic matter (EOM) and hydrocarbons are 
slightly higher, and of organic carbon slightly lower, in sediments of the marine- 
dominated part of the Bay. Hydrocarbon distribution, which is a function of the type of 
organic matter, also varies across the Bay. The C 15+ n-alkanes in sediments of the 
terrestrially-influenced portion exhibit a bimodal pattern, with maxima at C 27 , or C 29 
and C 18 and a marked odd/even carbon-number predominance in the C 21 -C 31 range. In 
contrast, C 15 n-alkanes in sediments of the marine-dominated portion have maxima at 
r, or C <Q and C 0 o or C OA . TOC decreases, but EOM and hydrocarbon content increase, 
with depth in the sediment. Hydrous and anhydrous pyrolysis of bulk sediments and 
individual carbonates generates a new suite of n-alkanes with n even carbon-number 
predominance and a maximum at C 22 . Yields of EOM and hydrocarbons are comparable 
for both types of pyrolyzates and are 6 to 8 times greater than in situ EOM and 
