Color-Encoded Image of 5-m Gridded Hill-Shaded Bathymetry From Long Island Sound off Bridgeport, Connecticut (H11045_GEO_5MBATHY.TIF, Geographic)

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, has produced detailed geologic maps of the sea floor in Long Island Sound, a major East Coast estuary surrounded by the most densely populated region of the United States. These studies have built upon cooperative research with the State of Connecticut that was initiated in 1982. The current phase of this research program is directed toward studies of sea-floor sediment distribution, processes that control sediment distribution, nearshore environmental concerns, and the relation of benthic community structures to the sea-floor geology. Anthropogenic wastes, toxic chemicals, and changes in land-use patterns resulting from residential, commercial, and recreational development have stressed the environment of the Sound, causing degradation and potential loss of benthic habitats (Koppelman and others, 1976; Long Island Sound Study, 1994). Detailed maps of the sea floor are needed to help evaluate the extent of adverse impacts and to help manage resources wisely in the future. Therefore, in a continuing effort to better understand Long Island Sound, we have regridded and interpolated this NOAA bathymetric survey into a complete-coverage acoustic image of the sea floor. The image presented herein covers an area of the sea floor in west-central Long Island Sound off Bridgeport, Connecticut and was produced from data collected during NOAA survey H11045. This imagery may serve many purposes, including: (1) defining the geological variability of the sea floor, which is one of the primary controls of benthic habitat diversity; (2) improving our understanding of the processes that control the distribution and transport of bottom sediments and the distribution of benthic habitats and associated infaunal community structures; and (3) providing a detailed framework for future research, monitoring, and management activities. This bathymetry may also serve as a base map for subsequent sedimentological, geochemical, and biological observations, because precise information on environmental setting is important for selection of sampling sites and for accurate interpretation of point measurements.