Title:
Grid Representing the Last Lowstand of Sealevel off the Coast of Washington and Oregon
Abstract:
Two 21-day field operations were conducted in 1997 and 1998 in the estuaries and on the inner continental shelf off the northern Oregon and southern Washington coast. These cruises aboard the R/V Corliss were run in order to generate reconnaissance maps of the seafloor geology and the shallow subsurface stratigraphy using sidescan sonar and seismic-reflection mapping techniques. The 1998 cruise also collected sediment grab samples, bottom photographs, and video images to verify the sidescan-sonar imagery and to document the seafloor geology. The combination of these data with previously collected sediment sample data (Robert, 1974; Nittrouer, 1978; and Smith et. al., 1980) has been used to define the extent and lithology of shelf sediments associated with the Columbia River littoral cell. This work is one component of a larger project studying the erosion of the Washington and Oregon coast and is being coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington State Department of Ecology. The reason for collecting these data is to provide a regional synthesis of the offshore geology to support a wide variety of management decisions and to provide a basis for further process-oriented investigations.
Supplemental_Information:
Roberts, R.W., 1974, Marine sedimentological data of the Washington continental shelf: University of Washington, Department of Oceanography Special Report 57, 129p.
Nittrouer, C.A., 1978, The process of detrital sediment accumulation in a continental shelf environment: an examination of the Washington shelf: PhD Thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. 243p.
Smith, J.M., Messmer, L.W., Phipps, J.B., Samuelson, D.F., and Schermer, E.D., 1980, Grays Harbor and Chehalis River improvements to navigation environmental studies - Grays Harbor ocean disposal study: literature review and preliminary benthic sampling: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Internal Report.
