The area offshore of New York is used for waste disposal, transportation, recreation, and commercial and recreational fishing. Harbor dredge spoils that are contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants also have been disposed of in the area, while additional wastes are carried directly from land by regional currents. Materials from diverse sources have added large amounts of metals, carbon, bacteria, and organic contaminants to the sea floor over the last century. Enforcement of environmental legislation and reduced use of the oceans for waste disposal have resulted in fewer sources of pollutants to coastal sediments in recent years. Population density of the eastern United States.
Polluted sediments occur in the coastal ocean near major population centers.
The New York-New Jersey region is one of the largest population centers. Bathymetry of the coastal ocean in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region. This regional understanding of the sea-floor geology and dynamics of these coastal sediments is needed by Federal, State, and local agencies for management and use of the coastal ocean, and by scientists to plan and conduct research and monitoring. Data collected from each survey consist of sidescan sonar mosaics, high-resolution seismic profiles, sediment samples, and bottom photography. The distribution of contaminants in sediments and changes in their patterns observed over time have been used to identify dispersal and deposition patterns, transport rates, and to ascertain the potential of the affected sediments for inducing toxic effects in biota.