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Open-File Report 2014-1012

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### Combined Multibeam Bathymetry Data from Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound – A Regional Perspective 

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## List of Figures 

| Title Page**List of Figures**Conversion FactorsAbstractIntroductionMethodsBathymetryGIS Data CatalogSummaryAcknowledgmentsReferencesContactsIndex | **Figure 1.**  Locations of the surveys in Rhode Island and Block  Island Sounds with multibeam echosounder data that have been combined in this  report (polygons with red survey labels). Also shown are (1) the eastern extent  of the contiguous multibeam data collected in Long Island Sound by the National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and geologically interpreted  through a U.S. Geological Survey and Connecticut Department of Energy and  Environmental Protection cooperative (dashed brown line; Poppe and others, 2011a);  (2)  the western extent of the bathymetry  data collected by the Massachusetts Mapping Cooperative (dashed green line;  Ackerman and others, 2012; Andrews and others, 2013); and (3) the locations of  other surveys by NOAA that have been geologically interpreted as part of this  series, but did not have continuous-coverage multibeam bathymetry (polygons  with black labels; H11320—McMullen and others (2007); H11321—McMullen and  others (2008); and H11322—McMullen and others (2009a). The surveys that compose  the present study area and their respective reports that contain geological  interpretations include H11922—Poppe and others (2011b); H11996—McMullen and  others (2011); H11995—McMullen and others (2012); the combined Block Island  Sound datasets H12009, H12010, H12011, H12015, H12033, H12137 and H12139 —Poppe  and others (2012); H12023 —McMullen and others (2013) and H12296 —McMullen and  others (2014); and H12298 and H12299 for which reports are in preparation.**Figure 2.**  Starboard-side view of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration   (NOAA) Ship *Thomas Jefferson* at anchor. Photo courtesy of  NOAA.**Figure 3.**Launch *3102* being deployed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ship*Thomas Jefferson*. **Figure 4.**Starboard-side  view of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launch *3102* at sea.**Figure 5.**The  RESON Seabat 8125 multibeam echosounder  hull-mounted to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  (NOAA) launch *3101*. Photo courtesy of  NOAA.**Figure 6.** The RESON 7125 multibeam echosounder hull-mounted to the National  Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ship *Thomas Jefferson*.  Photo courtesy of  NOAA.**Figure 7.** Brooke Ocean Technology Moving Vessel  Profiler with a Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc. conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD)  profiler used to correct sound velocities for the multibeam data collected  aboard the ship.  Photo courtesy of  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.**Figure 8.**    Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc., SEACAT conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD)  profiler. Data derived from frequent deployments of this device were used to  correct sound velocities for multibeam data collected aboard the launches. **Figure 9.**  Digital  terrain model (DTM) of the sea floor produced from the combined multibeam  bathymetry collected during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  (NOAA) surveys H11922, H11995, H11996, H12009, H12010, H12011, H12015, H12023,  H12033, H12137, H12139, H12296, H12298, and H12299 in Rhode Island and Block  Island Sounds. Image is sun-illuminated from the northeast and vertically  exaggerated by a factor of 5. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. See key for depth ranges.**Figure 10.**Map, modified from Stone and Borns (1986) and  Gustavson and Boothroyd (1987), showing locations of end moraines (black  polygons) in southern New England and on Long Island, New York. The  Ronkonkoma-Nantucket moraine marks the Laurentide ice sheet's maximum southern extent about 20–28 thousand  years ago, and the Harbor Hill-Roanoke Point-Charlestown-Buzzards Bay-Sandwich moraine  represents the ice-sheet position after a readvance around 18–22.5 thousand  years ago (Uchupi and others, 1996; Balco, 2011). Underwater extensions of the  moraines are shown as dashed lines. Study area is shown as a red polygon. **Figure 11.**Locations  of detailed planar views of the 4-meter digital terrain model (yellow polygons)  produced from the contiguous National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration multibeam surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island Sounds.**Figure 12.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing the bouldery sea floor near southwestern Block Island.  Boulders rest on the winnowed upper surface of the submerged Montauk  Point-Block Island segment of the terminal moraine. Location of view is shown  in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 13.** Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys showing the bouldery sea  floor south of Point Judith. Boulders rest on the winnowed upper surface of the  submerged Point Judith segment of the Harbor Hill-Roanoke  Point-Charlestown-Buzzards Bay-Sandwich end moraine. Location of view is shown  in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 14.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing a deep isolated scour depression in a channel south of the  eastern end of Fishers Island. The depression is more than 101 m deep and has  been eroded into glaciolacustrine sediments underlying this part of Block  Island Sound. Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler colors denote deeper  areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 15.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing obstacle marks in southwestern Block Island Sound. Note that the obstacle-mark and sand-wave asymmetries  indicate net northwestward sediment transport. Location of view is  shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9. **Figure 16.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing storm-wave-induced scour depressions on a seaward-facing  slope in eastern Rhode Island Sound. The presence of boulders suggests that  winnowed Pleistocene deposits are exposed in the northern part of the image. Note the relatively smooth appearance of the modern marine  sediments and the presence of outliers and multibeam artifacts. Location  of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 17.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing storm-wave-induced scour depressions on an isolated  bathymetric high in central Rhode Island Sound. Note  the multibeam artifact and the varied  shapes, sizes, and orientations of the scour depressions. Location  of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 18.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing storm-wave-induced scour depressions on an isolated bathymetric  high in western Rhode Island Sound. Note the presence of outliers of modern  marine sediments. Location of view is shown in figure 11.  Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler colors denote deeper areas. Depth  key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 19.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National Oceanic  and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island Sounds  showing storm-wave-induced scour depressions on an isolated bathymetric high in  southwestern Rhode Island Sound. Note the presence of outliers of modern marine  sediments. Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 20.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing storm-wave-induced scour depressions on an isolated bathymetric  high in eastern Rhode Island Sound. The presence of boulders suggests that  winnowed Pleistocene deposits are exposed on the floor of the depression. Note  the relatively smooth appearance of the modern marine sediments and the  presence of outliers. Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 21.**Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing dendritic channels in the sea floor beneath northern Block  Island Sound. Note that the channels start in storm-wave-induced scour  depressions and that the channels merge downslope. Location of view is shown in figure  11.  Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler colors denote deeper areas. Depth  key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 22.** Detailed  planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry from the combined National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode Island and Block Island  Sounds showing sand waves in the western part of the study area. Note that most  of the sand waves have transverse morphologies, but that sand waves with  barchanoid morphologies and straight-crested sand waves with moats are also  present. Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote shallower areas; cooler  colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9. **Figure 23.**Detailed planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry  from the combined National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode  Island and Block Island Sounds showing large transverse sand waves on a shoal  west of Block Channel (fig. 1). Note  that most of the sand-waves are symmetrical. Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote  shallower areas; cooler colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9.**Figure 24.**Detailed planar view of the sun-illuminated bathymetry  from the combined National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveys in Rhode  Island and Block Island Sounds showing the relatively flat, featureless  appearance of modern (Holocene) marine sediments, a shipwreck, and artifacts from  multibeam acquisition and processing. The shipwreck is a German submarine sunk  during World War II. Note the absence of asymmetrical scour around the wreck.  Location of view is shown in figure 11. Warmer colors denote  shallower areas; cooler colors denote deeper areas. Depth key is shown in figure 9. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |            U.S. Geological Survey                                                URL: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1012/html/figures.html            Page Contact Information: GS Pubs Web Contact                        Page Last Modified: Tuesday, March 11, 2014, 10:40:16 AM