Analyzing Channel Dynamics Within The Delaware Bay Estuary: Constraints From Chirp Seismic Profiles
Date
2016-05
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University of Delaware
Abstract
In this senior thesis, chirp sub-bottom data were analyzed in order to place constraints on the dynamics of the Delaware River/Bay navigation channel. In 2003, the Delaware Estuary system (consisting of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay) was the 5th largest national waterborne area of commerce within the United States. Chirp profiles are a highly accurate type of seismic data that allow a user to observe bottom and sub-bottom features to a decimeter scale. This thesis is the product of a Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) sponsored benthic mapping project in the Delaware Estuary. The goal of the Delaware Benthic Mapping Project was to provide constraints on the bottom and sub-bottom sediments to aid in better understanding, managing, and preserving the Delaware Estuary.
DNREC and University of Delaware scientists gathered chirp data using a vessel with a chirp towfish attached. The data collected were georeferenced with a GPS and were placed within SonarWiz5 and ArcGIS 10.1 to be analyzed. SonarWiz5 was utilized in order to view, edit, process and interpret the chirp profiles within the navigational channel of Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) ID sector Ge. Within SonarWiz5 features could be defined and measured. The navigation channel chirp profiles were also placed within a three-dimensional viewer in order to gain a better perspective on the navigational channel. The results were depictions of the navigation channel and its shape and sub-bottom structure. The figures and three-dimensional images were used to define areas of sediment accumulation, sediment wave structures, and the presence of subsurface paleochannels.
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Keywords
delaware bay, geology, channel, seismic profile