| Description |
Coral reefs serve as natural barriers that protect adjacent shorelines from coastal hazards such as storms, waves, and erosion. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) conducted research to quantify the combined effect of all constructive and destructive processes on modern coral reef ecosystems by measuring regional-scale changes in seafloor elevation. USGS staff conducted research to quantify bathymetric changes in the Northern Florida Keys from Triumph Reef to Pickles Reef during two time periods, 1934 to 2002, and 2002 to 2016, within a 234.2 square-kilometer area. USGS staff calculated changes in seafloor elevation for both time periods using historical hydrographic surveys (H-sheets) collected by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) in 1934 and 1935, light detection and ranging (lidar)-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) acquired by the USGS in 2001 and 2002, and lidar-derived DEMs acquired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2016 and 2017. An elevation change analysis for the two time periods was performed to quantify and map impacts to seafloor elevation for the full study site and 3 sub-regions: Upper, Middle, and Lower. Elevation and volume change statistics were also computed for eleven habitat types found within the study area. For more information about the methods used in this study, refer to Yates and others (2017) and Johnson and others (2026). [More]
|
