Sedimentary Data Collected in April 2016 From Old Tampa Bay, Florida (U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity Number 2016–327–FA)

The toxic dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense (P. bahamense) produces recurring, persistent summer algal blooms in Old Tampa Bay, Florida, which degrade water quality and are potentially harmful to humans if contaminated shellfish is consumed. As part of its life cycle, P. bahamense produces dormant cysts, which settle to the seafloor, forming seed beds that may initiate future blooms if favorable conditions for germination occur.
From August 2015 to September 2016, the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) collaborated to conduct seasonal sediment sampling at in Old Tampa Bay, Florida. Sediment cores were collected at three sites. The USGS characterized bottom sediment texture and measured profiles of naturally-occurring radionuclides in the uppermost five centimeters of the sediment column. This information will provide an assessment of sediment accumulation, depositional focusing, and resuspension in relation to the potential impact on the seeding potential of P. bahamense cysts. This data will be used in conjunction with FWC research on the vertical distribution of cyst abundance and viability to estimate the seeding potential of future blooms (Lopez and others, 2015). This project was funded by the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund.
This data release is an archive of USGS field data and laboratory analytical results for the five sampling periods in this study, designated as USGS Field Activity Numbers 2015-329-FA (project ID 15FWR02), 2015-341-FA (project ID 15FWR03), 2016-312-FA (project ID 16FWR04), 2016-327-FA (project ID 16FWR05), and 2016-350-FA (project ID 16FWR06).

有毒甲藻巴哈马旋沟藻（Pyrodinium bahamense，简称P. bahamense）会在佛罗里达州坦帕湾老湾周期性、持续性地暴发夏季藻华，导致水体质量下降；若人类食用受污染的贝类海产品，可能对人体健康造成潜在危害。作为其生命周期的重要环节，巴哈马旋沟藻会产生休眠孢囊，这些孢囊沉降至海底形成种床，当环境条件适宜萌发时，该种床即可触发后续藻华的暴发。
2015年8月至2016年9月期间，美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey，简称USGS）与佛罗里达鱼类与野生动物保护委员会（Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission，简称FWC）合作，在佛罗里达州坦帕湾老湾开展季节性沉积物采样工作。研究团队在3个采样点采集了沉积物岩芯，USGS对底沉积物的质地进行了表征，并测定了沉积物柱体最上层5厘米范围内的天然放射性核素剖面。相关数据将用于评估沉积物堆积、沉积聚集与再悬浮过程，及其对巴哈马旋沟藻孢囊接种潜力的潜在影响。本数据集将与FWC关于孢囊丰度与活力垂直分布的研究相结合，用以估算未来藻华的暴发潜力（Lopez等，2015）。本项目由坦帕湾环境修复基金资助。
本次数据发布为本次研究中5个采样周期的USGS野外实测数据与实验室分析结果的存档，对应的USGS野外活动编号依次为2015-329-FA（项目编号15FWR02）、2015-341-FA（项目编号15FWR03）、2016-312-FA（项目编号16FWR04）、2016-327-FA（项目编号16FWR05）及2016-350-FA（项目编号16FWR06）。