STUDY OBJECTIVES

  This project is examining the effects of the Cape Fear River Harbor

dredging project on selected physical, chemical, and biological parameters

in the river and adjacent wetlands.  Eleven data collection platforms have

been constructed in the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers.  Each

platform houses water level sensors, conductivity instruments, and data

loggers that record changes in tidal amplitude and salt water excursion up

river.  These data are retrieved using telemetry.  Additional conductivity

sensors and piezometers are used to measure fortnightly salinity and water

level changes, respectively, along transects in swamp and marsh sites.

These fortnightly surveys are conducted in the winter and summer.  Standard

methods are used to asses impacts on benthic and fish populations along 

selected river edge locations.  Pore water samples are collected at

selected swamp sites in the summer and in the winter.  These samples are

analyzed to determine sulfate, chloride and methane concentrations. All 

data are provided to the US Army Corps of Engineers annually.