Hurricane Sandy Response- Linking the Delmarva Peninsula's Geologic Framework to Coastal Vulnerability
Science Center Objects
The Delmarva Peninsula is a 220-kilometer-long headland, spit, and barrier island complex that was significantly affected by Hurricane Sandy. In order to better constrain controls on coastal vulnerability and evolution, the region’s sediment sources, transport pathways and sediment sinks must be identified. This project defines the geologic framework of the Delmarva coastal system through geophysical mapping of the inner continental shelf. Such information can then be related to the physical processes that govern coastal system evolution at storm-event and longer timescales. Similar efforts conducted in Fire Island, NY, North Carolina, South Carolina and Massachusetts have proven crucial to the assessment of coastal hazards as well as to habitat characterization and identification of cultural resources in those regions. Defining the geologic framework of the Delmarva coastal system through geophysical mapping of the inner continental shelf provides the scientific foundation for effective management of this dynamic coastal system as it responds to storms, sea-level rise, and anthropogenic activities.
Project Outcomes
Geophysical Mapping and Sea Floor Sampling: Geophysical Surveys conducted during the summers of 2014 and 2015 acquired post-Sandy bathymetric, backscatter, seismic-reflection profile, sediment sample and bottom-photograph data.
Exiting Dataset Compliation and Integration: The project built on recent and ongoing hydrographic, geologic, and ecological studies in the area.
Data Releases: Bathymetric, backscatter, seismic reflection profile and sample data provide a three-dimensional, high-resolution view of the Delmarva coastal environment.
Coastal Processes and Regional Collaborations: This project defines the underlying geologic framework that controls the Delmarva coastal system. Research is conducted in close collaboration with other regional studies that address the physcial and ecological processes that contribute to coastal evolution.
in the near future, sediment availability and movement may be a significant constraint on natural beach response and engineering responses associated with recovery from Hurricane Sandy. Longer-term changes in storminess and sea-level rise will also affect future sediment movement and the response of beaches and dunes. The Delmarva Peninsula includes valuable national assets such as Assateague Island National Seashore, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, the Eastern Seaboard’s longest coastal wilderness owned by The Nature Conservancy, as well as heavily developed coastal municipalities. Knowledge of a region’s antecedent geology, sediment type, distribution, deposit geometry, and transport pathways is lacking and is critical to addressing coastal issues. Comprehensive inner continental shelf geophysical mapping provides the data essential to fill these knowledge gaps. Similar efforts conducted in Fire Island, NY, North Carolina, South Carolina and Massachusetts have proven crucial to the assessment of coastal hazards as well as to habitat characterization and identification of cultural resources in those regions. Defining the geologic framework of the Delmarva coastal system through geophysical mapping of the inner continental shelf provides the scientific foundation for effective management of this dynamic coastal system as it responds to storms, sea-level rise, and anthropogenic activities.
Sound Waves Articles
"Team Delmarva" Completes Second comprehensive Seafloor Mapping off the Delmarva Peninsula
USGS Scientists Conduct Comprehensive Seafloor Mapping off the Delmarva Peninsula
Linking Coastal Processes and Vulnerability—Assateague Island Regional Study
Clockwise: Map of Chesapeake Bay and the Delmarva Peninsula; Radar Image of Hurricane Sandy; Seismic Reflection Profile data collected offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula; Shipwreck off of Ocean City, MD imaged in side scan sonar backscatter; Bathymetric data showing sand ridges; photo of sea floor ripples.
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Year Published: 2017Sand ridge morphology and bedform migration patterns derived from bathymetry and backscatter on the inner-continental shelf offshore of Assateague Island, USA
The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration conducted geophysical and hydrographic surveys, respectively, along the inner-continental shelf of Fenwick and Assateague Islands, Maryland and Virginia over the last 40 years. High resolution bathymetry and backscatter data derived from surveys over the...
Pendleton, Elizabeth A.; Brothers, Laura L.; Thieler, E. Robert; Sweeney, EdwardAttribution: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science CenterView CitationElizabeth A. Pendleton, Laura L. Brothers, E. Robert Thieler, Edward M. Sweeney, Sand ridge morphology and bedform migration patterns derived from bathymetry and backscatter on the inner-continental shelf offshore of Assateague Island, USA, Continental Shelf Research, Available online 28 June 2017, ISSN 0278-4343
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey data used in a U.S. Geological Survey regional geologic framework study along the Delmarva Peninsula
The U.S. Geological Survey initiated a research effort in 2014 to define the geologic framework of the Delmarva Peninsula inner continental shelf, which included new data collection and assembly of relevant extant datasets. Between 2006 and 2011, Science Applications International Corporation, under contract to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Pendleton, Elizabeth A.; Brothers, Laura L.; Thieler, E. Robert; Danforth, William W.; Parker, Castle E.-
Date published: March 15, 2016High-resolution geophysical data collected along the Delmarva Peninsula in 2015, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2015-001-FA
The Delmarva Peninsula is a 220-kilometer-long headland, spit, and barrier island complex that was significantly affected by Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted cruises during the summers of 2014 and 2015 to map the inner continental shelf of the Delmarva Peninsula using geophysical and sampling techniques to define the geologic framework
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Date published: April 5, 2019High-resolution geophysical data collected along the Delmarva Peninsula 2014, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2014-002-FA
Data collected during the 2014 cruise include swath bathymetry, sidescan sonar, chirp and boomer seismic-reflection profiles, acoustic Doppler current profiler, and sample and bottom photograph data. Processed data in raster and vector format are released here for the swath bathymetry, sidescan sonar, and seismic-reflection profiles.
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Date published: February 20, 2018Sediment Texture and Geomorphology of the Sea Floor from Fenwick Island, Maryland to Fisherman's Island, Virginia
These data are a qualitatively derived interpretive polygon shapefile defining surficial sediment type and distribution, and geomorphology, for nearly 1,400 square kilometers of sea floor on the inner-continental shelf from Fenwick Island, Maryland to Fisherman’s Island, Virginia, USA.
Data Processing Center on the M/V Scarlett Isabella
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center personnel process data in the dry lab on the M/V Scarlett Isabella
Map showing the tracklines and grab sample sites of the 2014 and 2015
Map showing the tracklines and grab sample sites of the 2014 and 2015 geophysical surveys offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula.
Crew of the Scarlett Isabella
A group photo of the crew of the Scarlett Isabella.
The USGS returned from a seafloor data mapping mission offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula (Ocean City, MD) on July 25th, 2014. The data collected is foundational to our continued understanding of coastal change, vulnerabilities, and making our coastal communities more resilient to coastal hazards and climate change
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Scarlett Isabella in Delmarva
A view of the Scarlett Isabella from shoreline.
The USGS returned from a seafloor data mapping mission offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula (Ocean City, MD) on July 25th, 2014. The data collected is foundational to our continued understanding of coastal change, vulnerabilities, and making our coastal communities more resilient to coastal hazards and climate change.
