Nutrient and detritus transport in the Apalachicola River, Florida

Abstract

The Landsat image on the cover shows the extent of the flood plain in the Apalachicola River Basin, Florida. The dark color of the flood plain is caused by the low reflectance from flood waters. The 200-m wide river is barely visible in the center of the 3.2 to 8.0-kmwide flood plain. The Apalachicola River flows from Lake Seminole (at the top), 171 km south, to Apalachicola Bay (near the bottom of the scene). The numerous white squares near the top of the scene are agricultural fields ir Florida and Alabama. The large red area east of the river is pine forest (Apalachicola National Forest). The faint brown color on the birdsfoot delta at the river mouth is marsh. The light blue colors near the beaches at the bottom of the scene are a combination of shallow areas and areas with high suspended sediments caused by ocean currents.