The Flower Garden Banks Marine Sanctuary provides a set of unique environments that include a deep carbonate hardground, a brine seep (~200ppt), and transitional brine, to normal seawater, geochemical gradients.

A shaded relief map of the Flower Garden Banks area can be found at the National Marine Sanctuary web site. (This link will take you to their web site)

The sites at the East Flower Garden Banks have been sampled in 1995 and in 2001.