Interplay of Late Cenozoic Siliciclastic Supply and Carbonate Response on the Southeast Florida Platform

High-resolution seismic-reflection data collected along the length of the Caloosahatchee River in southwestern Florida have been correlated to nannofossil biostratigraphy and strontium-isotope chemostratigraphy at six continuously cored boreholes. These data are interpreted to show a major Late Miocene(?) to Early Pliocene fluvial– deltaic depositional system that prograded southward across the carbonate Florida Platform, interrupting nearly continuous carbonate deposition since early in the Cretaceous. Connection of the platform top to a continental source of siliciclastics and significant paleotopography combined to focus accumulation of an immense supply of siliciclastics on the southeastern part of the Florida Platform. The remarkably thick (> 100 m), sand-rich depositional system, which is characterized by clinoformal progradation, filled in deep accommodation, while antecedent paleotopography directed deltaic progradation southward within the middle of the present-day Florida Peninsula. The deltaic depositional system may have prograded about 200 km southward to the middle and upper Florida Keys, where Late Miocene to Pliocene siliciclastics form the foundation of the Quaternary carbonate shelf and shelf margin of the Florida Keys. These far-traveled siliciclastic deposits filled accommodation on the southeastern part of the Florida Platform so that paleobathymetry was sufficiently shallow to allow Quaternary recovery of carbonate sedimentation in the area of southern peninsular Florida and the Florida Keys.

DEVELOPMENTAL STATUS OF N-(3-CHLORO-4-METHYLPHENYL) ACETAMIDE AS A CANDIDATE BLACKBIRD/STARLING ROOST TOXICANT

Large winter roosts of blackbirds (Icteridae) and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) often cause conflicts, both real and imagined, between the birds and local human popula- tions. These conflicts may range from objections to the noise and odor engendered by thousands or millions of birds, to fear of epidemic human and livestock diseases, and the possibility of economic losses from crop depredations. Many people believe the most direct way to combat these conflicts is to reduce local roosting populations by kill- ing the birds. In response to this perceived need for a roost toxicant, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) developed PA-14, a surfactant which can be aerially applied to problem roosts for population reduction (Lefebvre and Seubert 1970). Successful use of this material, however, requires concurrent rainfall and low temperatures, conditions which may not occur sufficiently often to permit roost treatment at desired times or places. Because of this difficulty, and continued pressures from management person- nel and the agricultural community, the Service has continued its search for a safe, ef- fective roost toxicant usable without severe weather restrictions. One of the current candidate materials is N-(3-chloro-4-methylphenyl)acetamide (CAT, DRC-2698), a derivative of StarlicideR (DRC-1339). This compound was initially developed by S.A. Peoples of the University of California-Davis (Peoples et al. 1976). California researchers are still investigating the avicidal potential of CAT, mainly on baits and in wick perches, while FWS interest has centered thus far on its possible utility as an aerially applied roost treatment. This report is a summary of our investigations to date.