Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

McNeal, Karen

Committee Member

Rodgers, John

Committee Member

Phipps, Scott

Date of Degree

5-1-2010

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Hypoxia occurs when the dissolved oxygen concentrations in water fall below 2 mg/L, and negative impacts to flora and fauna can result. In this study, sediment core and water column measurements were collected and processed through several laboratory and field methods to better understand the biogeochemistry of Weeks Bay (WB), AL. Results show that salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen fluctuate on a diurnal cycle. Results also show a significant difference in water column and sediments between different years and sites. The western side of WB was found to more likely to go hypoxic than other portions. Conclusions of this research include that major differences in the water column are shown during a diurnal cycle, but sediments appear to be less dynamic. The implications of this work include WB hypoxia tendency is heterogeneous over space and time. However the sediments, although important, indicate that the pelagic and benthic components are decoupled.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/18182

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