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publications > water resources investigations > report 93-4057 > summary & references
Bathymetry, Freshwater Flow, and Specific Conductance of Matlacha Pass, Southwestern Florida
SummaryThe Matlacha Pass estuary is part of the connected inshore waters of the Charlotte Harbor estuary in southwestern Florida. Bathymetry indicates depths in the main channel range from 4 to 14 feet below sea level. The channel averages about 8 feet deep in the northern end of the pass and about 5 feet deep in the southern end of the pass. In the middle of Matlacha Pass, depths average about 4 feet across a wide section of the pass and about 2 feet along the mangrove shoreline.Surface-water runoff occurs primarily during the wet season (May-September), with most of the flow entering Matlacha Pass through two openings in the spreader canal system near Matlacha. Freshwater flow into the pass from the north Cape Coral spreader canal system averaged 113 cubic feet per second from October 1987 to September 1992. Freshwater inflow from the Aries Canal of the south Cape Coral spreader canal system averaged 14.1 cubic feet per second from October 1989 to September 1992. Specific conductance ranged from less than 1,000 to 57,000 microsiemens per centimeter throughout Matlacha Pass. Specific conductance at Matlacha averaged 36,000 microsiemens per centimeter 2 feet below the water surface and 40,000 microsiemens per centimeter 2 feet above the bottom from February to September 1992. During the wet and dry seasons, specific conductance indicates that the primary mixing of tidal waters and freshwater inflow occurs in the mangroves along the shoreline. ReferencesBoggess, D.H., Missimer, T.M., and O'Donnell, T.H., 1981, Hydrogeologic sections through Lee County and adjacent areas of Hendry and Collier Counties, Florida: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Open-File Report 81-638, 1 sheet.Giovannelli, R.F., 1980, Relation between freshwater flow and salinity distribution in the Alafia River, Bull Frog Creek, and Hillsborough Bay, Florida: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 80-102, 62 p. Harris, B.A., Haddad, K.D., Steidinger, K.A., and Huff, J.A., 1983, Assessment of fisheries habitat: Charlotte Harbor and Lake Worth, Florida: Florida Department of Natural Resources, 211 p. Hem, J.D., 1985, Study and interpretation of the characteristics of natural water (3d ed.): U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2254, 263 p. Herwitz, S., 1977, The natural history of Cayo-Costa Island: Sarasota, New College Environmental Studies Program Publication No. 19. La Rose, H.R., and Sheftall, W.L., 1984, Gator Slough and spreader canal system, Lee and Charlotte Counties, Florida: Letter report prepared for Lee County, H.R. La Rose, U.S. Geological Survey, and W.L. Sheftall, Florida Department of Natural Resources, 30 p. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1978-91, Climatological data: Asheville, North Carolina. Patterson, G.G., and Logan, S.W., 1988, Bathymetry of Lakes Marion and Moultrie, South Carolina, 1984-85: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 88-4062, 2 sheets. |
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
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Last updated: 04 January, 2005 @ 08:53 AM (KP)
Summary & References