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Publications

Scientific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff

Filter Total Items: 1691

Characteristics of the near-bottom suspended sediment field over the continental shelf off northern California based on optical attenuation measurements during STRESS and SMILE

Time-series measurements of current velocity, optical attenuation and surface wave intensity obtained during the Sediment Transport Events on Shelves and Slopes (STRESS) experiments, combined with shipboard measurements of conductivity, temperature and optical attenuation obtained during the Shelf Mixed Layer Experiment (SMILE), provide a description of the sediment concentration field over the ce
Authors
J.H. Trowbridge, B. Butman, R. Limeburner

Deglaciation, lake levels, and meltwater discharge in the Lake Michigan basin

The deglacial history of the Lake Michigan basin, including discharge and routing of meltwater, is complex because of the interaction among (1) glacial retreats and re-advances in the basin (2) the timing of occupation and the isostatic adjustment of lake outlets and (3) the depositional and erosional processes that left evidence of past lake levels. In the southern part of the basin, a restricted
Authors
Steven M. Colman, J.A. Clark, L. Clayton, A.K. Hansel, C.E. Larsen

Transport of sludge-derived organic pollutants to deep-sea sediments at deep water dump site 106

Linear alkylbenzenes (LABs), coprostanol and epi-coprostanol, were detected in sediment trap and bottom sediment samples at the Deep Water Dump Site 106 located 185 km off the coast of New Jersey, in water depths from 2400 to 2900 m. These findings clearly indicate that organic pollutants derived from dumped sludge are transported through the water column and have accumulated on the deep-sea floor
Authors
H. Takada, J.W. Farrington, Michael H. Bothner, C.G. Johnson, B.W. Tripp

A crisis in waste management, economic vitality, and a coastal marine environment: Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay

Discharge of sewage sludge and effluent from 43 communities in the greater Boston metropolitan area has helped make the harbor one of the most polluted in the nation. As part of a court-mandated plan to end pollution of the harbor, effluent will no longer be discharged into the harbor, but instead, by 1995 it will be discharged into Massachusetts Bay through a record-long 15.34 km tunnel. By the y
Authors
F. T. Manheim, B. Butman

The geologic framework of southern Lake Michigan

The bathymetry is controlled by the underlying bedrock. Bedrock comprises Silurian dolomite and Devonian limestone and shale. Quaternary sediment, 10 to 40 m thick, overlies bedrock. From Waukegan, Illinois, south to Indiana Harbor, the bottom is floored by till, sand, pebbles, and cobbvles. The lake floor is erosional or nondepositional where till or gravel-cobble pavement is exposed. In contrast
Authors
D. S. Foster, D. W. Folger

Indicators of sewage contamination in sediments beneath a deep-ocean dump site off New York

The world's largest discharge of municipal sewage sludge to surface waters of the deep sea has caused measurable changes in the concentration of sludge indicators in sea-floor sediments, in a spatial pattern which agrees with the predictions of a recent sludge deposition model. Silver, linear alkylbenzenes, coprostanol, and spores of the bacterium Clostridium perfringens, in bottom sediments and i
Authors
Michael H. Bothner, H. Takada, I.T. Knight, R. T. Hill, B. Butman, J.W. Farrington, R.R. Colwell, J. F. Grassle

Historical shoreline mapping (I): improving techniques and reducing positioning errors

A critical need exists among coastal researchers and policy-makers for a precise method to obtain shoreline positions from historical maps and aerial photographs. A number of methods that vary widely in approach and accuracy have been developed to meet this need. None of the existing methods, however, address the entire range of cartographic and photogrammetric techniques required for accurate coa
Authors
E. Robert Thieler, William W. Danforth

New recording package for VACM provides sensor flexibility

For the past three decades, the VACM has been a standard for ocean current measurements. A VACM is a true vector-averaging instrument that computes north and east current vectors and averages temperature continuously over a specified interval. It keeps a running total of rotor counts, and records one-shot samples of compass, vane position and time. Adding peripheral sensors to the data stream was
Authors
William J. Strahle, S. E. Worrilow, S. E. Fucile, Marinna A. Martini

Antifouling leaching technique for optical lenses

The effectiveness of optical lenses deployed in water less than 100 m deep is significantly reduced by biofouling caused by the settlement of macrofauna, such as barnacles, hydroids, and tunicates. However, machineable porous plastic rings can be used to dispense antifoulant into the water in front of the lens to retard macrofaunal growth without obstructing the light path. Unlike coatings which c
Authors
William J. Strahle, C. L. Perez, Marinna A. Martini

Historical shoreline mapping (II): Application of the Digital Shoreline Mapping and Analysis Systems (DSMS/DSAS) to shoreline change mapping in Puerto Rico

A new, state-of-the-art method for mapping historical shorelines from maps and aerial photographs, the Digital Shoreline Mapping System (DSMS), has been developed. The DSMS is a freely available, public domain software package that meets the cartographic and photogrammetric requirements of precise coastal mapping, and provides a means to quantify and analyze different sources of error in the mappi
Authors
E. Robert Thieler, William W. Danforth

Submarine canyon initiation by downslope-eroding sediment flows: Evidence in late Cenozoic strata on the New Jersey continental slope

Multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles of the New Jersey continental slope reveal a series of abandoned and now-buried submarine canyons that have apparently influenced the development of modern canyons. The buried canyons are infilled along nine slope-wide unconformities separating upper-middle Miocene to Pleistocene sediments that thin downslope. Canyons infilled during the Miocene
Authors
Lincoln F. Pratson, William B. F. Ryan, Gregory S. Mountain, David C. Twichell

Meteoroid mayhem in Ole Virginny: Source of the North American tektite strewn field

New seismic reflection data from Chesapeake Bay reveal a buried, 85-km-wide, 1.5-2.0-km-deep, peak-ring impact crater, carved through upper Eocene to Lower Cretaceous sedimentary strata and into underlying pre-Mesozoic crystalline basement rocks. A polymictic, late Eocene impact breccia, composed mainly of locally derived sedimentary debris (determined from four continuous cores), surrounds and pa
Authors
C. Wylie Poag, David S. Powars, Lawrence J. Poppe, Robert B. Mixon