Open-File Report 97-0736

Paleontological Data from Mud Creek Core 1, Southern Florida

By Debra A. Willard, Lynn Brewster-Wingard, Claire Fellman, and Scott E. Ishman

Introduction

Vegetational changes from sawgrass marshes to mangrove stands during the last century have been documented previously in a core collected in the mangrove fringe along Taylor Creek near Florida Bay (Willard and Holmes, 1997). To determine whether this pattern is characteristic of the mangrove fringe as a whole, or whether it represents only a local effect, additional cores have been collected from sites in the mangrove fringe along Florida Bay. The core discussed below was collected at a site along Mud Creek, near Joe Bay, approximately 5 km east of the Taylor Creek sites. This core is one of several collected at the Mud Creek site and consists of alternating layers of peat and marl. Other cores collected nearby consist of varying amounts of peat and marl, and a more detailed study on the geology and sedimentology of the site is underway to understand the local depositional setting. The core described below, Mud Creek Core 1, was collected in a peat-accumulating site in a stand of dwarf mangroves (Rhizophora) in a lake at the north end of Mud Creek (25°13.191'N, 80°36.279'W). Mud Creek traverses the Buttonwood Embankment near Joe Bay and empties into a lake in the transition zone from dwarf mangrove stands to sawgrass marsh along Florida Bay.

This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with the North American Stratigraphic Code. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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