INFLUENCE OF SEDIMENTOLOGY ON BEACH SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURES

Florida beaches are important economic resources and are also home to thousands of nesting sea turtles every year. Beach-dune systems are periodically restored (beach nourishment) to mitigate erosion, enhance coastal habitat, protect from storms, and attract tourism. We hypothesize that different borrow sources with slight variability in their characteristics could affect temperatures within the placed sediment. Temperatures encountered during egg incubation will determine the gender of the sea turtle hatchlings but can also exceed a critical threshold resulting in embryonic mortality. Given the current trend of global warming, it will be critical to ensure shore protection projects use appropriate sediment to avoid adversely impacting habitat function. This study evaluates the sediment characteristics from nine location in Jupiter beach, FL. Characteristics evaluated includes grain size, sorting, color, and carbonate content at two depths (mimicking average sea turtle chamber depths). The sediment characteristics are compared to the corresponding temperatures at two depths. The results of this study are important to determine the sediment suitability to improve chance of successful sea turtle hatching and in turn promote a healthy ecosystem.