Stephanie
Beda, W. Bruce Ward, William Murphy,
Robert
Fleming, Gary Fleming, Beckett Boyd
Earthworks LLC
27
Glen Road, North Entrance, Sandy Hook, Connecticut 06482
phone:
203-270-8100
e-mail contact: murphy@earthworks2020.com and ward@earthworks2020.com
and
Ben A.
Baker
US
Army Corps of Engineers, NY District
Never-before-known
details of the Quaternary geology and its antecedent topography in the
New York Harbor waterways west of Upper New York Bay are being revealed
by our geologic and geophysical surveys.These
surveys are enhancing the engineering for the Port of New York and New
Jersey channel-deepening project.To
date, the three-dimensional distribution of Quaternary sediment and the
underlying rock down to 70 feet below mean low water (MLW) has been mapped
in portions of Newark Bay, Kill van Kull, Elizabeth, South Elizabeth, Port
Jersey, northeastern Arthur Kill channels and adjoining banks (Figure 1).
This
mapping reveals the high variability of these sediments.Although
a single stratigraphic model and a single seismic model are useful in mapping
these facies throughout the harbor, such models cannot predict the natural
complexity in the details on the scale of engineering projects.Mapping
and imaging is required.The facies
variability is partially a result of the variability in the sub-Quaternary
bedrock topography.