USGS Science⌕ Search

Geology topics

Peter R. Briere

Publications and source records attributed to Peter R. Briere.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2002

Historical Aerial Photography for the Greater Everglades of South Florida: The 1940, 1:40,000 Photoset

Introduction The Greater Everglades Ecosystem comprises a vast swath of wetlands beginning in central Florida with the headwaters of the Kissimmee River and continuing southward through Lake Okeechobee and then to Florida Bay (Davis 1943). The ecosystem runs some 450 km, north to south, and over 100 km east to west, comprising almost 30,000 km2 of total area. Beginning in the late 19th century, a succession of programs were implemented for land reclamation and flood protection (Blake 1980; Steinman and others, 2002). At present, the greater Everglades is the subject of a restoration effort with almost $8 billion dollars of planned expenditures over 20 years. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) sets guidelines and goals for the project. Numerous federal, State of Florida, and local agencies are involved in the restoration process, as are not-for-profit non-governmental organizations. A foundation for Everglades restoration must be a clear understanding of the pre-drainage south Florida landscape (Davis and others, 1994; Fennema 1994). Knowledge of the spatial organization and structure of the pre-drainage landscape communities (mangrove forests, marshes, sloughs, wet prairies, pinelands) is necessary to provide potential endpoints, restoration goals, and performance measures to gauge restoration success. Analyses of information contained in historical aerial photographs of the Everglades can aid in the endeavor. For example, the earliest known aerial photographs are from the mid-to-late 1920s and resulted in the production of what are called T-sheets (for Topographic Sheets) for the coasts and shorelines of far south Florida. The position of the boundary between differing vegetation communities (the ecotone) can be accurately measured. If followed through time, changes in the position of these ecotones could potentially be used to judge effects of drainage on the Everglades ecosystem and also to monitor restoration success (Smith and others, 2002). The Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), a center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with USGS Eastern Region Geography, has created digital versions of existing aerial photographs from a survey conducted in early 1940 of south Florida and the Florida Everglades region. Via this Open-File Report, we make available digital versions of the photographs. We have not attempted to rectify, mosaic, or georeference the images. The aspect of our work will be completed in due course and a supplemental Open-File Report will be issued. At present the digital files are available on this website in a manner designed to facilitate access to the product by those intending to integrate the data with other spatial data, particularly those interested in the restoration and management of the Florida Everglades.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2000

Puerto Rico: Marine sediments, terrestrial and seafloor imagery, and tectonic interpretations

Introduction: Puerto Rico is an island situated in the plate boundary zone between the Caribbean and the North American Plates. This is a geologically fascinating, tectonically active region, where the Caribbean Plate has over-ridden the North American Plate and is now sliding past it with strike-slip motion. The details of this tectonic interaction are poorly understood, largely because much of the region lies under water, making it difficult to study. The geologic setting of Puerto Rico has created or contributed to several pressing societal issues, related to human safety, environmental health, and economic development. Because the island lies on an active plate boundary, earthquakes are a constant threat and the densely populated coastal areas are vulnerable to tsunamis. Coastal erosion is a concern in many coastal areas, but is particularly serious to an island economy which relies heavily on a thriving tourist industry. In Puerto Rico, illegal mining of beach sands for use as aggregate has exacerbated coastal erosion and left coastal communities more exposed to the ravages of storms and tsunamis. The serious need for an affordable local source of aggregate to use in the growing construction industry on the island has created a strong interest in locating and evaluating offshore sand and gravel deposits. During the last 20 years the U.S. Geological Survey, often in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and/or the University of Puerto Rico, has conducted a variety of projects to address the geologic aspects of these pressing societal issues. The papers and data presented here are the results of these projects. Some have been previously published elsewhere; others, such as the database of surficial sediments of the Puerto Rico insular shelf, interpretation of side-looking airborne radar imagery of the island, and the GIS data, are presented here for the first time. The purpose of this CD is to make the results of these diverse studies available in a readily accessible digital form, so that managers, planners, and other researchers can utilize the results.

Puerto Rico↗
USGS1999

Oculina Bank: Sidescan sonar and sediment data from a deep-water coral reef habitat off east-central Florida

The Experimental Oculina Research Reserve (EORR) is located along the shelf edge off east-central Florida in water depths of about 60 to 100 meters. It is about 7.5 km wide and 43 km long and encompasses numerous high-relief rocky pinnacles where Oculina varicosa , a fragile deep-water coral, grows. These coral reefs have historically been the sites of prolific grouper spawning aggregations and have supported a large variety of other reef fish (Gilmore and Jones, 1992). Serious decline of the fishery in the area prompted the establishment of the EORR. The data presented in this open-file report were collected as part of a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The project’s goal was to provide reconnaissance geologic maps of the Experimental Oculina Research Reserve and an unprotected control area north of the reserve to support the NMFS studies of grouper spawning aggregations. To accomplish this, we collected sidescan sonar data and sediment samples throughout both study areas and used video and observations from a manned submersible at selected sites. This report includes digital mosaics of the sidescan sonar data, tabulated sediment data, and interpretative maps of the seafloor geology. The video and submersible observations are not included in this report, but were used in the interpretation of the sidescan data.

Open-File Report↗