USGS Cruise SEAX95007 Sidescan Sonar Data Files

In 1995, the USGS, in cooperation with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), New York District, began a program to generate reconnaissance maps of the sea floor offshore of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, one of the most populated coastal regions of the United States. The goal of this mapping program is to provide a regional synthesis of the sea-floor environment, including a description of sedimentary environments, sediment texture, sea-floor morphology, and geologic history to aid in understanding the impacts of anthropogenic activities, such as ocean dumping. This mapping effort differs from previous studies of this area by obtaining digital sidescan-sonar images that cover 100 percent of the sea floor.
This investigation was motivated by the need to develop an environmentally acceptable solution for the disposal of dredged material from the New York - New Jersey Port, by the need to identify potential sources of sand for renourishment of the southern shore of Long Island, and by the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the transport and long-term fate of contaminants by investigations of the present distribution of materials discharged into the New York Bight over the last 100+ years. The sidescan-sonar data were digitally mosaicked to provide a base suitable for use in Geographic Information Systems of the New York Bight Apex region (Schwab, W.C., Corso, W., Allison, M.A., Butman, B., Denny, J.F., Lotto, L., Danforth, W.W., Foster, D.S., O'Brien, T.F., Nichols, D.A., Irwin, B.J., and Parolski, K.F., 1997, Mapping the Sea Floor Geology Offshore of the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area Using Sidescan-Sonar: Preliminary Report:U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-61, 3 Sheets).