Fall 13 Quantifying Several Environmental Effects Associated With Floating Docks in a Commercial Marina Christina Bergemann, Neill Bullock, Joshua Edwards, Brett Fickes, Maite Ghazaleh, Adam Gold, Brendon Greene, Kyle Hinson, Joseph Morton, Kristin Oliver, Joy‐Lynn Rhoton, Madelyn Roycroft, Gregory Sorg, Amelia Schirmer, Eric Vorst This report represents work done by a UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduate student team. It is not a formal report of the Institute for the Environment, nor is it the work of UNC-Chapel Hill faculty. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences 1 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Background and Marina Policy ............................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Circulation and Flushing ...................................................................................................... 9 I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................9 2. METHODS ............................................................................................................................................................9 2.1 Current Profilers ............................................................................................................................................ 10 2.2 Drifters ........................................................................................................................................................... 10 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 3.1 Current Profilers ............................................................................................................................................ 11 3.2 Drifters ........................................................................................................................................................... 12 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Total Suspended Solids, Chlorophyll-a and Nutrients .................................................... 21 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 21 2. METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 22 2.1 Field Sampling ............................................................................................................................................... 22 2.2 Water Sample Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 22 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 3.1 Total Suspended Solids and Chlorophyll-a .................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Nitrogen and Phosphorus .............................................................................................................................. 24 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 3: Microbial Activity................................................................................................................ 31 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 31 2. METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 32 2.1 Sampling Sites ................................................................................................................................................ 32 2.2 Laboratory procedures ................................................................................................................................... 32 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 33 3.1 Fecal Indicator Bacteria ................................................................................................................................ 33 3.3 Rainfall, Salinity and Water temperature ...................................................................................................... 33 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 34 4.1 Fecal Indicator Bacteria ................................................................................................................................ 34 4.2 Total Suspended Solids .................................................................................................................................. 34 4.3 Other Parameters Examined .......................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 4: Light Attenuation ................................................................................................................ 40 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 40 2. METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 40 2.1 Light Available for SAV ................................................................................................................................. 40 2.2 Light Extinction with Depth ........................................................................................................................... 41 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 42 4.1 Light Available For SAV ................................................................................................................................ 42 4.2 Light Extinction with Depth ........................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 5: Sediment and Microphytobenthic Community Analysis ................................................. 50 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 50 2. METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................... 51 2.1 Sample Collection .......................................................................................................................................... 51 2.2 Chlorophyll-a Acidification Processing ......................................................................................................... 51 2.3 Sediment Organic Matter Processing ............................................................................................................ 51 2.4 Accessory Pigment Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 52 2 2.5 Sediment Grain Size Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 52 3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 52 2.1 Levels of Chlorophyll-a .................................................................................................................................. 52 2.2 Percent Sediment Organic Matter ................................................................................................................. 52 2.3 Accessory Pigment Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 52 2.4 Average Grain Sizes ....................................................................................................................................... 53 2.5 SOM and Grain Size Relationship ................................................................................................................. 53 2.6 Multivariate Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 53 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 6: Fouling Organisms