Previous hydrometric studies demonstrated the prevalence of overland flow as a hydrological pathway in the tropical rain forest catchment of South Creek, northeast Queensland. The purpose of this study was to consider this information in a mixing analysis with the aim of identifying sources of, and of estimating their contribution to, storm flow during two events in February 1993. K and acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) were used as tracers because they provided the best separation of the potential sources, saturation overland flow, soil water from depths of 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 m, and hillslope groundwater in a two-dimensional mixing plot. It was necessary to distinguish between saturation overland flow, generated at the soil surface and following unchanneled pathways, and overland flow in incised pathways. This latter type of overland flow was a mixture of saturation overland flow (event water) with high concentrations of K and a low ANC, soil water (preevent water) with low concentrations of K and a low ANC, and groundwater (preevent water) with low concentrations of K and a high ANC. The same sources explained the streamwater chemistry during the two events with strongly differing rainfall and antecedent moisture conditions. The contribution of saturation overland flow dominated the storm flow during the first, high-intensity, 178-mm event, while the contribution of soil water reached 50% during peak flow of the second, low-intensity, 44-mm event 5 days later. This latter result is remarkably similar to soil water contributions to storm flow in mountainous forested catchments of the southeastern United States. In terms of event and preevent water the storm flow hydrograph of the high-intensity event is dominated by event water and that of the low-intensity event by preevent water. This study highlights the problems of applying mixing analyses to overland flow-dominated catchments and soil environments with a poorly developed vertical chemical zonation and emphasizes the need for independent hydrometric information for a complete characterization of watershed hydrology and chemistry.

Archaias angulatus, a large symbiont-bearing foraminifer (Order Miliolida) that produces a Mg-calcite shell, is common throughout the Caribbean and warm western Atlantic region. This species lives abundantly in seagrass beds along the Springs Coast of northwest Florida (up to 4 adults per gram of sediment) where spring-fed rivers emerge from a limestone aquifer, and in Florida Bay to the southeast (25 adults/g) where the sediment is primarily biogenic carbonate. In contrast, live specimens are seldom found in the seagrass beds along the central-west coast of Florida, where barrier islands are dominated by quartz sand. My working hypothesis is that substratum and carbonate chemistry, in addition to temperature and salinity, explain differences in abundance of A. angulatus associated with the seagrass meadows along the west Florida coastline and shelf. Water chemistry measurements were taken diurnally over 1-2 day periods at four sites in winter, spring and autumn of 2015. Salinity and temperature were measured in situ, and sealed bottles of seawater were transported to the laboratory for analysis of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) and Total Alkalinity (TA). The highest TA was found in the Springs Coast (2766 μmol/kg-seawater, three-season average), along with the lowest salinities, which reveals a strong contribution from the nearby rivers, springs and seeps. A TA end-member regression analysis predicts, and sampling confirms, TA increases with proximity to the river mouth, highlighting the atypical relationship between alkalinity and salinity in this carbonate province. A gradient in the value of TA was seen among the northern three sites, with TA decreasing from the Springs Coast site southward to Fort Desoto; additionally, the pH and calcium carbonate saturation states were higher at the northernmost sites. The highest ratio of TA to DIC among all four sites was found at the southern edge of the Springs Coast, reflecting strong primary production and DIC uptake by the dense meadows of seagrass in the area. A daytime increase in the TA to DIC ratio was seen at all sites; however, the Springs Coast site (~5km from the Weeki Wachee river mouth) exhibited stronger tidal influences on TA and DIC than diurnal influences. Plots of salinity-normalized TA and DIC indicate the Weeki Wachee coastal area is impacted by calcification and dissolution to a greater extent than by photosynthesis and respiration. The gradual relief off the Springs Coast, as well as clarity of the water column, provide ideal physical habitat, and the input from spring-fed sources enhances the water chemistry for calcifying organisms. Presence of A. angulatus in low salinity waters influenced by high alkalinity riverine discharge led to a new hypothesis that calcification in A. angulatus requires high carbonate alkalinity but not necessarily full marine salinity.