SOUTH FLORIDA WETLANDS ECOSYSTEM:
BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN PEAT

U. S. Geological Survey FactSheet 177-96

PROJECT GOALS:

• Examine biogeochemical processes in peats controlling nutrient and sulfur cycling in wetlands.
• Determine the rates of these biogeochemical processes for inclusion in ecosystem models.
• Examine the influence of nutrient and sulfur geochemistry in peats on mercury cycling and bioaccumulation.
• Determine the effects of differences in peat organic structure on nutrients, sulfur, and mercury.
• Develop a model of ecosystem history from studies of geochemical history and collaboration with paleoecology and geochronology groups.

• INTRODUCTION
• PEATS OF SOUTH FLORIDA WETLANDS
• BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN PEATS OF SOUTH FLORIDA
  • Sampling methods
  • Phosphorus and Nitrogen
  • Sulfur and Mercury
• CONTINUING STUDIES OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN PEATS OF SOUTH FLORIDA
• ANTICIPATED PROJECT SCHEDULE
• PLANNED PRODUCTS
• COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS

FIGURES

• Figure 1. Peat core being taken in a sawgrass marsh in the South Florida wetlands.
• Figure 2. Major regions of the South Florida wetlands ecosystem including the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), the Water Conservations Areas (WCA's), and the Everglades National Park (ENP). Sampling sites for the Biogeochemical Processes project are shown in Water Conservations Areas 1 and 2A and along Hillsburo Canal.
• Figure 3. Pore water from a peat core being squeezed into syringes.
• Figure 4. Simplified biogeochemical cycles for phosphorus (top) and sulfur (bottom) in organic-matter-rich sediments of South Florida.
• Figure 5. Dissolved phosphate and ammonium concentrations in pore water from sites in WCA 2A. Concentrations are in micrograms per liter (µg/L) and depths are in centimeters (cm).

Please Contact:

William H. Orem
U.S. Geological Survey
MS 956 USGS National Center
Reston, VA 20192
E-mail: borem@usgs.gov

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