Mississippi-Alabama Continental Shelf Ecosystem Study. Data Summary and Synthesis. Volume I: Executive Summary.

... To partially remedy this situation, the Minerals Management Service has sponsored a large multi-year and multi-disciplinary effort to examine the continental shelf ecosystem off the coast of Mississippi and Alabama. Carried out over a period of three years, the investigation has involved study of the following components at regular stations (Figure 1): - water masses and circulation patterns using remote sensing imagery, moored current meter arrays, and water mass properties; - characteristics of the water column including profiles of temperatures, salinity, dissolved oxygen, light transmission, and nutrients; - sediment properties including grain size distribution and the content of carbonate, total organic matter, d13 carbon, trace metals, and an array of high molecular weight hydrocarbons; - benthic and demersal biota including macroinfaunal and macroepifaunal invertebrates and bottom dwelling fishes; - food habits of the demersal fishes and trophic relations, in general; and - topographic high features including their distribution, topography, and biotic assemblages. Detailed results of the individual investigations are presented as various chapters of the Final Report, and raw data appear in the appendices. This volume is the executive summary for the Final Report.