Regional environmental monitoring and assessment program - Galveston Bay 1993

Date

1999

Authors

Gorham, Cynthia, Terry Wade, Virginia Engle, Kevin Summers, and Evan Hornig

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

Abstract

The Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) Study of Galveston Bay, Texas addresses the ecological health of this estuary by identifying benthic community structure, measuring toxicity of sediments, and measuring concentrations of various pollutants in the sediments. The Sediment Quality Triad approach was used in this study to differentiate between degraded sites and undegraded sites. For comparison of the main body of Galveston Bay with other systems and the Louisiana Province as a whole, twenty-nine randomly selected sites were chosen to represent 1305 square kilometers of the Galveston Bay system. Random sites are located in Galveston Bay, Trinity Bay, East Bay, and West Bay. In addition, a sample was taken for each of four important small bays associated with Galveston Bay and for five marinas. This study does not include an analysis of the upper Houston Ship Channel, the Trinity River, or any other major tributaries.

Description

pgs. 100-109

Keywords

sediment analysis, toxicity, degradation, benthic, amphipods, contamination, heavy metals, tributyltin (TBT), butyltins, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), estuaries

Citation