The Application and Development of a Compatible Historical Data Base for the Analysis of Water Quality Management Issues in the New York Bight

As a result of a number of oceanographic studies conducted over the past 30-40 years, a large historical data base exists for the New York Bight. A significant portion of this data base, compiled from data sets originally collected for a variety of research and monitoring objectives, has been integrated into a compatible format. The utility of the data base is demonstrated with retrospective analyses of nutrient enrichment, eutrophication and oxygen depletion in relation to environmental management issues in the New York Bight.