NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20170001800: Ecological Study of Lagoons Surrounding the John F. Kennedy Space Center

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ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF LAGOONS AROUND
JOHN F. KENNEDY SPACE GENTER
NGR 10-015-008
VOLUME 2
THESES AND
PROJECT REPORTS
FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
MELBOURNE, FLORIDA
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Final Report
to
John F. Kennedy Space Center
National Aeronautics and Space .Administration
Kennedy Space Center. l"1orida
An Ecological Study
of the
Lagoons Surrounding the
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Brevard County. Florida
April 1972 to September 1975
9
Volume II
Thesis and Project Reports
NGR 10-015-008
Florida Institute of Technology
Melbourne, Florida
INTRODUCTION
Many of the detailed studies done in connection with Ecological Study
of the Lagoons surrounding the John F. Kennedy Space Port were performed
as Master's Thesis investigations by various graduate students enrolled at
F.I.T. during and subsequent to the report. The scope and purpose of what
we came to call "the KSC Baseline Study" caught the imagination and interest
of our student body. Many who were not financially or otherwise connected with
the project found their inspiration in studies that were directly connected with
project, and thus added materially to the totality of the knowledge gained. An
example of one such study is the first article included in this Volume, A Master's
Thesis study performed by Shen Phillip Chen, who chose the site for his investi
gation so that his results would correlate with and extend the results of others.
In addition to the Master's Theses contained in this Volume, six other
graduate studies must be acknowledged here as contributing to this Report, al
though they have not reached the stage of final publication. Ms. sandra Fettes
has completed a study of the amounts of five trace metals in mangrove leaves
from plants at various locations around the Kennedy Space Center. Mr. Ber
nard Cohenour has isolated and identified a number of oil consuming bacteria
endemic in the waters of the Indian Rivers. Mr. Charles Waterhouse has analy
zed historic data of tidal gauges in the lagoonal area and correlated it with wind
field records. Mr. Renkert Meyer has measured the vertical and horizontal
currents of the lagoons and is attempting an interpretation of them in terms of
the wind field as a driving force. Mr. Richard Campbell has measured the rate
of nitrogen fixation in both the water columns and the sediments under them in
the lagoons. Mr. Craig Weiderhold has measured thl3 annual variations in the
populations of benthic invertebrates in the lagoons.
An integral part of the F.I.T. curriculum is a requirement that each
undergraduate student perform an independent study during his Senior year and
submit his results in the form and format of a professional scientific report.
While none of these senior Project Reports have been included in this Volume
because of space limitations, many of them aided significantly in the overall
study. Typical of these were: light and dark bottle studies of the blue-green
algae respiration; writing and executing computer studies comparing the water
chemistry data from various sites; detection and identification of nitrogen fixa
tion bacteria in the Indian River; measurement of dissolved oils and greases in
the river, photographically recording the benthic life-forms found in the river
bottom; measuring the vertical structure of drift and slope currents in too lagoons;
and measurement of water level variations along the long axis of a lagoon as a
function of wind stress.
These articles are published as a part of this Final Report in an effort
to make available for the record as much of the basic data as possible. The
few articles published on the Indian River have in general not contained much de
tailed data, so that comparisons of current status to conditions of the past are
difficult or impossible. A major effort of both the Oceanographic and Ecological
communities for the past decade has been the retrieval and storage of basic data
in order to permit determinations of trends or changes in baseline conditions.
It is believed that the information compiled here will be of great value in any
future investigations.
ii
Index of Theses and Project Reports by Field of Study
Section I. Biological Studies
Articles
1. A Study of the Decomposition Rate of Manatee Grass
cymodoceum monatorum. 1974, Chen, Shen Philip
2. A Study of the Thermal Effects on the Growth of Manatee Grass
cymodoceum monatorum, 1975, salituri, Jeff Robert,
3. Benthic Species Diversity and Environmental Stability in the
Northern Indian River, Florida, 1974, Thomas, John R.
4. The Sediments of the Indian River and the Impounded Waters
near Kennedy Space Center, 1973, Daggett, Joyce M.
Section IT. Microbiological studies
5. A Study of the Distribution of the Cultivable Bacteria in Lagoonal
Waters and Sediments, 1973, Beazley, Robert W.
6. The Interaction of Ethion and Sulfur Cycle Bacteria, 1972,
Sherman, Joan C.
7. The Utilization of Sulfur Compounds by Indigenous Halophiles
in the Indian - Banana River, 1974, Blevins, Wendell L.
m.
Section Chemical Studies
8. Chemical Characterization of Shallow Groundwater at the Kennedy
Space Center, Florida, 1974, Woodsum, Glenn Craig.
9. The Analysis of Five Major Ions and the Validity of Salinity Measure
ments in the Indian and Banana Rivers, 1973, Hutchinson, J. Bryson,Jr.
10. The Quantitative Determination of Chlorophyll in the Indian River
Lagoon, 1973, Carey, Max Raymond.
Section IV. Geological Studies
11. Heavy Metal Distribution in the Sediments of the Waters near
Kennedy Space Center, 1975, Tower, Deborah A.
12. Nutrient Characteristics of the Lagoonal Sediments Surrounding
the Kennedy Space Center, 1975, Peffer, Stephen O.
iii
13. Physical and Chemical Characteristics of the Sediments of
the Lagoonal Waters Surrounding Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, 1975, Mendelsohn, Stuart.
Section V. Physical Studies
14. A Study of the Circulation in the Lagoons Encompassing the
Kennedy Space Center, 1974, Dill, Richard Evon.
15. A Study of the Transport of Water Through the Haulover Canal,
1974, Browne, David Richard.
i6. Statistical Study of the Total Surface Area and Total Volume of
the Lagoonal System of the East Florida Coast
0
(Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River) from 28 52'N to 27 10'N
1974, Cohenour, Bernard.
17. Wind-Induced Flow for a Shallow Water Basin, 1975,
Nenart, Ronald W.
iv
Index of Theses and Project Reports by Author
Beazley, Robert W. Sec. II, Art. 5
A Study of the Distribution of the Cultivable
Bacteria in Lagoonal Waters and Sediments
Blevins, Wendell L. Sec. II, Art. 7
The Utilization of Sulfur Compounds by Indigenous
Halophiles in the Indian-Banana Rivers
Browne, David Richard Sec. V, Art. 15
A Study of the Transport of Water
Through the Haulover Canal
Carey, Max Raymond Sec. III, Art. 10
The Quantitative Determination of
Chlorophyll in the Indian River Lagoon
Chen, Shen Philip Sec. I, Art. 1
A Study of the Decomposition Rate of
Manatee Grass Cymodoceum ~.QI!ll!1
Cohenour, Bernard Sec. V, Art. 16
Statistical Study of Total Surface Area and
Total Volume of the Lagoonal System of the
East Florida Coast (Mosquito Lagoon and
0 0
Indian River) from 28 52'N to 27 10'N
Daggett, Joyce M. Sec. 1. Art. 4
The Sediments of the Indian River and the
Impounded Waters near Kennedy Space
Center.
Dill, Richard Evon Sec. V, Art. 14
A Study of the Circulation in the Lagoons
Encompassing the Kennedy Space Center
Hutchison, Jay Bryson, Jr. Sec. In, Art. 9
The Analysis of Five Major Ions and the
Validity of Salinity Measurements in the
Indian and Banana Rivers
v
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Mendelsohn, Stuart Sec. IV, Art. 13
Physical and Chemical Characteristics of the
Sediments of the Lagoonal Waters Surrounding
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Nenart, Ronald W. Sec. V, Art. 17
Wind-Induced Flow for a Shallow Water Basin
Peffer, Stephen O. Sec. IV, Art. 12
Nutrient Characteristics of the Lagoonal
Sediments Surrounding the Kennedy Space Center
Salituri, Jeff Robert Sec. I, Art. 2
A Study of the Thermal Effects on the Growth
of Manatee Grass Cymodoceum manatorum
Sherman, Joan C. Sec. IT, Art. 6
The Interaction of Ethion and the Sulfur
CycIe Bacteria
Thomas, John R. Sec. I, Art. 3
Benthic Speccies Diversity and Environmental
Stability in the Northern Indian River, Florida
Tower, Deborah A. Sec. IV, Art. 11
Heavy Metal Distribution in the Sediments of
the Waters near Kennedy Space Center
Woodsurn, Glenn Craig Sec. III, Art. 8
Chemical Characterization of Shallow Ground-
water at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida
vi
Section 1, Article 1
A Study of the Decomposition Rate of Manatee Grass
Cymodoceum manatorum
Shen Philip Chen
1974
A STUDY OF THE DECOMPOSITION RATE OF
MANATEE GRASS (Cymodoceum :J:Wlnatorum)
by
Shcn Philip Chen
B.S. in Oceanography, College of Chinese Culture, 1969
&1bmitted to the Graduate Faculty
in part!al fulfillment of
the reqUirements for the degrl~e
of
Master of Science
in
Oceanography
Florida Institute of Technolol~
1974
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