Great South Channel and Cape Cod National Seashore Imagery

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Great South Channel and Cape Cod National Seashore Imagery

By Page Valentine
January 1999

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During November, 1998, USGS scientists from the Woods Hole Field Center used the Canadian Hydrographic Service's multibeam vessel Frederick G. Creed to conduct a survey of Great South Channel. The channel separates the western part of Georges Bank from Nantucket Shoals and is a region of high productivity due to an oceanic frontal system formed by the interaction of the Gulf of Maine and continental shelf waters and strong tidal currents. The Great South Channel is used by commercial fishermen, and some parts of it have been closed to fishing since 1994. The distribution of biological habitats in the channel is of special interest to the New England Fishery Management Council. The channel also is a major transit route for shipping and for marine mammals, including the endangered Northern Right Whale.

A total of 210 sq nm (735 sq km) was surveyed in water depths of 45 to 70 m during 6 days in the area. Topographic and backscatter imagery reveal a heterogeneous sea bed that includes fields of large bedforms (oriented east-west, normal to tidal currents), wide areas of gravel habitat, and features interpreted to have been formed by glacial processes. During transit to and from port in Provincetown, the nearshore area off the Cape Cod National Seashore (20- to 40-m depth interval) was surveyed from off Chatham at the southern end of the Cape to Provincetown Harbor.

Cruise participants included Page Valentine, Bill Danforth, Tom O'Brien, Jessica Baker, and Barry Irwin.

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January 1999

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in this issue: Gas Hydrate Shear Strength

Deep-Water Moorings Recovered

Coastal SWATH Tests

Cape Cod Seafloor Imagery

cover story:
New Program-Wide Newsletter

Lecture: Tsunami!

Lecture: Navassa Island

Seminar: South Florida Ecosystem Restoration

NAS/NRC Review

Coastline Lidar Display at AGU

Long Island Sound

INATURES Lessons Learned

Director Visits Menlo Park

Eastern Region Council Visits Woods Hole

Note From the Editor

January Publications List