Field Activity 2021-004-FA

Identifier 2021-004-FA
Purpose To determine the morphology and seismic stratigraphy of the nearshore bars and shoreface of eastern Cape Cod for the purpose of understanding seal and Great White Shark behavior in this environment.
Location Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States, Atlantic Ocean
Summary The primary objective for this project successfully completed 100 percent bathymetric and acoustic backscatter coverage that includes the outer bar and as much of the trough and shoreface as possible for a 10 km stretch from Coast Guard Beach to north of Marconi Beach. Acquire subbottom data that images the thickness of modern sand shoals and characteristics of the underlying glacial drift. Due to survey time constraints, we did not completely cover the full offshore range of the 2018 lidar data. The secondary objective partially completed 100 percent bathymetric and acoustic backscatter for a 3 km stretch along Nauset Beach, Nauset Heights and Callanan's Pass. We were able to collect subbottom profiles that image modern sand shoals and underlying glacial deposits. With more survey time at high tide, we could have could have acquired more data close to shore in this area. We tested the Reson T20P dual head mutibeam sonar and the Edgetech 424 chirp subottom systems on June 9, 2021 along Nauset Beach. The data acquired were very good quality and are included with the data collected from June 15 to June 24, 2021.
Info derived Bathymetry, backscatter, sand shoal thickness
Comments Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2020-002-FA. Rescheduling of the 2020 field activity.
Projects
Platform
Rafael
25 feet
Itinerary
Start Chatham, Massachusetts 2021-06-09
End Chatham, Massachusetts 2021-06-25
Days in the field 11
Bounds
West -69.98688286
East -69.91022382
North 41.95069985
South 41.78012665

Personnel

Organization
384 Woods Hole Road
Quissett Campus
Woods Hole, MA02543-1598
(508) 548-8700
Principal investigators David S Foster
Crew members
David S Foster
Scientist, Staff
Seth Ackerman
Scientist, Staff
Charles R Worley
Scientist, Staff
Alexander R Nichols
Scientist, Staff
Information specialist(s)
Seth Ackerman
Specialist, Information
Affiliate principal Jennifer Miselis

Data types and categories

Data category: Seismics, Sonar
Data type: Sound Velocity, Sub Bottom Profiler, Multibeam

Equipment used

Equipment Usage description Data types Datasets
AML Minos X Sound Velocity 1
EdgeTech 424 chirp sub-bottom profiler Sub Bottom Profiler 1
Reson T20-P Multibeam, Water column reflectivity 3

Datasets

Datasets produced in this activity

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
2021-004-FA_SVP_data AML Minos X RAW sound velocity profile data from a Minos X collected from outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts during USGS Field Activity 2021-004-FA (PNG images, SVP text, and point shapefile, GCS WGS 84) Seth Ackerman
2021-004-FA_SB424 EdgeTech 424 chirp sub-bottom profiler Chirp seismic reflection - shotpoints, tracklines, profile images, and SEG-Y traces for EdgeTech SB-424 chirp data collected during USGS field activity 2021-004-FA (point and polyline shapefiles, CSV text, PNG Images, and SEGY data, GCS WGS 84) David S Foster
2021-004-FA_T20P_Backscatter_1m Reson T20-P Multibeam backscatter data collected during USGS Field Activity 2021-004-FA, using a dual-head Teledyne SeaBat T20-P multibeam echo sounder (8-bit GeoTIFF, UTM Zone 19N, WGS84, 1-m resolution) Seth Ackerman
2021-004-FA_T20P_Bathymetry_2m_NAVD88 Reson T20-P Multibeam bathymetric data collected during USGS field activity 2021-004-FA, using a dual-head Teledyne SeaBat T20-P multibeam echo sounder (32-bit GeoTIFF, UTM Zone 19N, NAD 83, NAVD88 Vertical Datum, 2-m resolution) Seth Ackerman
2021-004-FA_T20P_Tracklines Reson T20-P Multibeam sonar tracklines collected during USGS field activity 2021-004-FA, using a dual-head Teledyne SeaBat T20-P multibeam echo sounder (Esri polyline shapefile, GCS WGS 84) Seth Ackerman

Publications

Samples collected during this field activity