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Recent Cruise Completed for the North Carolina Regional Coastal Erosion Study By Rob Thieler September 2002 in this issue:  previous story | next story The sea-floor-mapping group at the Woods Hole Field Center (WHFC) has completed its third year of cruises, compiling work that has imaged the inner continental shelf from False Cape, VA, to Cape Hatteras, NC, as part of the North Carolina Regional Coastal Erosion Study. This survey encompasses an area approximately 90 nautical miles long by 5 nautical miles wide, extending seaward from approximately 8-m water depth (nearshore) to 25- to 30-m water depth (inner continental shelf). In June and July 2002, two scientific parties from the WHFC conducted a research cruise aboard the merchant vessel Atlantic Surveyor that mapped about half the survey area. Participants on the first leg were Rob Thieler, Dave Foster, Dave Nichols, Erika Hammar-Klose, Chris Polloni, and Chuck Worley. After a crew change halfway through the cruise, Tom O'Brien, Bill Danforth, Caroline Roberts, Mark Capone, and Seth Ackerman joined Rob and Chris for the second leg. Both the weather and the scientific equipment (interferometric sidescan/bathymetry, sidescan, CHIRP, and boomer subbottom profilers) were very cooperative, allowing maximum time for science. It is clear from the data gathered over the past 3 years that the nearshore sediment budget is coupled to the inner-shelf sediment budget in complex but understandable ways, which are determined primarily by antecedent geology (the distribution and composition of ancient rocks and sediment) and modern physical processes. Cooperative work conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is extending this geophysical framework from the nearshore to the beach, where it ties into U.S. Geological Survey studies of beach change using LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) and SWASH (Surveying Wide-Area SHorelines) beach-survey techniques. North Carolina Coastal Sedimentary System Cruises September 2001 Inner-Shelf-Mapping Cruise off Northern North Carolina Outer Banks December 1999 Seafloor Mapping Technology U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Woods Hole, MA Virginia Institute of Marine Science College of William and Mary in this issue:  previous story | next story

September 2002 Mailing List: Sign up to receive monthly email updates: print this issue in this issue: cover story: Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Tampa Bay Coring North Carolina Coastal Erosion Endangered White Abalone Marbled Murrelets Sediment Core Drilling Proposal African Dust Microbiology Tall Ships Gulf of Mexico Teacher Workshop Coastal Louisiana Interview MRIB Makes Headlines U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Numerical-Modeling Workshop WHFC Employees Farewell Sound Waves Staff September Publications List

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