Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 15-15.
Satellite image of Hurricane Andrew in the Gulf of Mexico just west of Florida after it passed over
the Everglades. The eye of the hurricane is well formed and is
∼
20 km in diameter. Also note thunderstorm clouds
along the right edge. Landsat TM band 5 (mid-infrared); 24 August 1992; image processing by J.S. Aber.
• Intact mangrove forest reduces the maximum
water height reached inland during storm
surges.
basin makes it quite vulnerable to upstream
changes in terms of both the quantity and
quality of water supply. Human impact on the
Everglades is substantial. Signii cant modii ca-
tion of drainage began in 1909 with completion
of the Miami Canal, which connected Lake
Okeechobee to the sea (see Fig. 15-13B). Hur-
ricane San Felipe in 1928 caused a storm surge
from Lake Okeechobee that inundated the
southern shore and killed more than 3000
people (Bryan, Scott and Means 2008). Only the
Galveston hurricane in 1900 killed more people.
As a result of Hurricane San Felipe, the federal
government built Herbert Hoover Dike, which
completely encircles Lake Okeechobee. Renewed
l ooding in the 1940s led to the creation of the
Central and South Florida Control project, in
which many more canals and levees were con-
structed. Water l ow in southern Florida is pres-
ently constrained by over 3000 km of canals and
levees as well as 150 major water-control struc-
tures (Dugan 2005).
Rapid population growth in southern Florida
requires massive supplies of fresh water, and
agriculture consumes still more water. Water for
human uses is derived from pumping ground
The Everglades is a cornucopia of plants
and animals; distinctive plants are the royal
palm (
Roystonea regia
), West Indian mahogany
(
Swietenia mahagoni
), giant wild pine (
Tilland-
sia utriculata
), cowhorn orchid (
Cyrtopodium
punctatum
), and leafy vanilla orchid (
Vanilla
phaeantha
). Notable animals include the Hal-
loween pennant dragonl y (
Celithemis eponina
),
zebra longwing (
Heliconius charitonius
), eastern
indigo snake (
Drymarchon corais
), great egret
(
Ardea alba
), wood stork (
Mycteria americana
),
roseate spoonbill (
Ajaia ajaja
), snail kite (see
Fig. 7-35), white ibis (
Eudocimus albus
), and
Everglades mink (
Mustela vison
). Alligators
(
Alligator mississippiensis
) are common in the
freshwater marshes, but the relatively rare
American crocodile (
Crocodylus acutus
) remains
in brackish to marine environments (see Fig.
7-17).
Everglades National Park is one of the crown
jewels in the U.S. national park system; yet, its
position at the downstream end of the drainage
