1994 
Frankovich, T. A., J. W. Fourqurean, and R. D. Jones (1994) Epiphyte loads and seagrass 
C:N:P ratios as indicators of nutrient availability. Abs., ASLO/PSA Joint Mtg., Miami, FL. 
a-27. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY.] Epiphyte levels on seagrasses have been shown to be good 
indicators of nutrient availability in the environment. The elemental composition of 
seagrasses has also been used to assess relative nutrient supply. The validity of these 
factors in the assessment of relative nutrient availability across a regional scale was 
determined. During the winter of 1994, total epiphyte loads, epiphyte chlorophyll and 
the C:N:P ratios of the leaves of Thalassia testudinum was measured at each of 24 
sites within Florida Bay, a shallow marine embayment located at the southern tip of 
Florida. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were performed on these data 
and nutrient concentration data collected from each site during the study period to test 
for correlations among measured water column nutrients and one two potential 
biological proxies of nutrient avalability. 
1994 0 
Frewin, N. L. (1994) The distribution of organic matter in a dynamic carbonate sedimentary 
system, Florida Bay. Bull. Mar. Sci. . 54(3): 1075. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY. DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] Sedimentary 
organic matter (OM) has been recovered from a Recent carbonate mudmound 
environment. Input sources have been identified via chemical characterization of the 
soluble OM fractions. Use of these chemical markers as tracers has provided 
confirmation of a sedimentary process model previously based on facies distribution. 
Twenty-two cores were taken from the windward leeward aspects of mudmounds in 
Florida Bay. Solvent soluble OM fractions have been analyzed using gas 
chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and solvent resistant OM fractions using 
pyrolysis GC/MS. This study has resulted in the recognition of distinctive chemotypes 
(chemical markers thought to have been derived from a particular OM source), 
revealing clear variations on a centimeter to kilometer scale. Changes are primarily 
caused by proximity to source, sedimentary facies variation and sediment reworking 
through bioturbation or storm processes. In particular, the preservation potential of 
higher plant (i.e. seagrass and mangrove) cuticular material within the sediments is 
clarified through the chemical characterization of the external membrane. The Holocene 
submergence curve was formulated from Florida Bay stratigraphy by Scholl et al. 
(1969). This study highlighted the importance of backstepping vegetation types during a 
transgression where there is a shift from freshwater to transitional to marine 
organo-facies. The relatively simple vegetational succession of Florida Bay makes it 
particularly sensitive to sea level interpretation. The selective use of organic chemical 
markers enables us to 'fingerprint' organo-facies change, even when the recognizable 
particulate fraction has been removed through taphonomic processes. 
1994 0 
Ginsburg, R. N., and E. A. Shinn (1994) South Florida's environments are geological 
inheritances: the past is the key to the present. Bull. Mar, Sci. . 54(3): 1975. 
[ABSTRACT ONLY. DATE OF SAMPLING UNKNOWN OR NOT APPLICABLE.] The geography 
and bathymetry of South Florida's marine and terrestrial environments are inherited 
from geologic events extending back millions of years. The interactions of these 
physiographic subdivisions with marine communities and hydrography during the past 
several hundred thousand years has produced today's characteristic biotas, sediments, 
and local topography of reefs and shoals. The template for all of South Florida began to 
form as a platform of shallow-water calcareous deposits nearly 600 m thick dating 
back some 200 million years to the Jurassic Period. Some tens of millions of years 
362 
