SEG-Y formatted chirp seismic-reflection profile data collected in the Indian River Bay, Delaware, on April 13, 2010, on U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2010-006-FA

• Main Authors: John F. Bratton, Emile Bergeron
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: USGS Science Data Catalog 2014
• Subjects: U.S. Geological Survey; USGS; Coastal and Marine Geology Program; CMGP; Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center; WHCMSC; Field Activity Number 2010-006-FA; Info Bank ID K-6-10-DL; navigation; R/V Knob; Lowrance GPS; seismic-reflection profile; SEG-Y; EdgeTech 424; Chirp seismics; Open-file Report 2011-1039; location; oceans; geoscientificInformation; North America; North Atlantic Ocean; United States; Delaware; Indian River Bay; Indian River Inlet; Holts Landing; Piney Neck; Rosedale Beach; Indian; River Bay; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/b64a27d5-e873-4d1e-bf40-942768bf1025

A geophysical survey to delineate the fresh-saline groundwater interface and associated sub-bottom sedimentary structures beneath Indian River Bay, Delaware, was carried out in April 2010. This included surveying at higher spatial resolution in the vicinity of a study site at Holts Landing, where intensive onshore and offshore studies were subsequently completed. The total length of continuous resistivity profiling (CRP) survey lines was 145 kilometers (km), with 36 km of chirp seismic lines surveyed around the perimeter of the bay. Medium-resolution CRP surveying was performed using a 50-meter streamer in a bay-wide grid. Results of the surveying and data inversion showed the presence of many buried paleochannels beneath Indian River Bay that generally extended perpendicular from the shoreline in areas of modern tributaries, tidal creeks, and marshes. An especially wide and deep paleochannel system was imaged in the southeastern part of the bay near White Creek. Many paleochannels also had high-resistivity anomalies corresponding to low-salinity groundwater plumes associated with them, likely due to the presence of fine-grained estuarine mud and peats in the channel fills that act as submarine confining units. Where present, these units allow plumes of low-salinity groundwater that was recharged onshore to move beyond the shoreline, creating a complex fresh-saline groundwater interface in the subsurface. The properties of this interface are important considerations in construction of accurate coastal groundwater flow models. These models are required to help predict how nutrient-rich groundwater, recharged in agricultural watersheds such as this one, makes its way into coastal bays and impacts surface water quality and estuarine ecosystems. For more information on the survey conducted for this project, see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2010-006-FA.