Substrate Mapping and Process Studies of New England Seabeds
In response to the growing need for Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning as a means to better manage seabed environments, it is necessary to compile high-resolution (1:25,000) interpretive maps and to formulate a geology-based seabed classification system that will allow users to recognize and correctly interpret seabed substrate types.
Seabed imagery from multibeam mapping surveys has provided new insights into the nature of the seabed and the processes that affect it. Multibeam images (and the video and photo imagery and sediment samples used to groundtruth or directly observe them) provide a basis for compiling detailed interpretive maps showing the distribution of geological substrates and seabed processes.
Substrate Mapping and Process Studies of New England Seabeds Task Objectives:
- Developing high-resolution (1:25,000) interpretive maps, based on multibeam data and sampling, showing surficial geology and sediment dynamics in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, MA.
- Providing a documented framework of natural conditions for the validation of USGS regional sediment transport and erosion studies and for ecological studies of sanctuary species by NOAA scientists.
- Conducting topical studies to understand the role of geological processes in the origin of substrate types.
- Developing a geology-based methodology for recognizing and classifying substrates.
In response to the growing need for Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning as a means to better manage seabed environments, it is necessary to compile high-resolution (1:25,000) interpretive maps and to formulate a geology-based seabed classification system that will allow users to recognize and correctly interpret seabed substrate types.
Seabed imagery from multibeam mapping surveys has provided new insights into the nature of the seabed and the processes that affect it. Multibeam images (and the video and photo imagery and sediment samples used to groundtruth or directly observe them) provide a basis for compiling detailed interpretive maps showing the distribution of geological substrates and seabed processes.
Substrate Mapping and Process Studies of New England Seabeds Task Objectives:
- Developing high-resolution (1:25,000) interpretive maps, based on multibeam data and sampling, showing surficial geology and sediment dynamics in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, MA.
- Providing a documented framework of natural conditions for the validation of USGS regional sediment transport and erosion studies and for ecological studies of sanctuary species by NOAA scientists.
- Conducting topical studies to understand the role of geological processes in the origin of substrate types.
- Developing a geology-based methodology for recognizing and classifying substrates.