Scientific Studies and History of the Ala Wai Canal, an Artificial Tropical Estuary in Honolulu
Date
1995-10
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Fifteen studies of the Ala Wai Canal, O'ahu, Hawai'i, initially
were spawned by two federally funded summer research programs designed to
introduce high-school students from around the state of Hawai'i to the challenges,
practicalities, and excitement of work in the natural sciences and engineering.
This special issue reports on the end products of 10 of those studies.
The canal is an artificial estuary created in the 1920s to drain coastal wetlands
and borders the present tourist mecca of Waikiki. Today, it is polluted and
hypereutrophic, and it receives high levels of nutrients that sustain levels of
primary production that rival all but a few of the world's water bodies. Acting
as a sediment trap for the combined drainage of the Manoa and Palolo
Streams, the midportion of the canal contains two large sedimentary sills that
restrict seawater exchange. This restricted flow and the high rain rate of organic
matter result in severe oxygen depletion behind the sill. The canal's small
reservoir size, variably oxygenated water column and sediments, single oceanic
outlet, and receipt of natural freshwater drainage-within the confines of a
rapidly developed major metropolitan area-combine to make it an excellent
aquatic laboratory for the study of present and historical water exchange
characteristics; phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthic foraminifer behavior;
biogeochemical responses of shallow, tropical water masses to hypereutrophication;
and historical records of heavy metals, radionuclides, and other pollutants
over the past 60 yr. We believe this special issue will attract the attention of a
variety of scientists and academicians, as well as administrators and others
interested in the environmental quality of Hawai'i.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Glenn CR, McMurtry GM. 1995. Scientific studies and history of the Ala Wai Canal, an artificial tropical estuary in Honolulu. Pac Sci 49(4): 307-318.
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.