P. Wang | Search USGS

USGS2009

Origin and extent of fresh paleowaters on the Atlantic continental shelf, USA

While the existence of relatively fresh groundwater sequestered within permeable, porous sediments beneath the Atlantic continental shelf of North and South America has been known for some time, these waters have never been assessed as a potential resource. This fresh water was likely emplaced during Pleistocene sea-level low stands when the shelf was exposed to meteoric recharge and by elevated recharge in areas overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet at high latitudes. To test this hypothesis, we present results from a high-resolution paleohydrologic model of groundwater flow, heat and solute transport, ice sheet loading, and sea level fluctuations for the continental shelf from New Jersey to Maine over the last 2 million years. Our analysis suggests that the presence of fresh to brackish water within shallow Miocene sands more than 100 km offshore of New Jersey was facilitated by discharge of submarine springs along Baltimore and Hudson Canyons where these shallow aquifers crop out. Recharge rates four times modern levels were computed for portions of New England's continental shelf that were overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. We estimate the volume of emplaced Pleistocene continental shelf fresh water (less than 1 ppt) to be 1300 km 3 in New England. We also present estimates of continental shelf fresh water resources for the U.S. Atlantic eastern seaboard (10 4 km 3 ) and passive margins globally (3 x 10 5 km 3 ). The simulation results support the hypothesis that offshore fresh water is a potentially valuable, albeit nonrenewable resource for coastal megacities faced with growing water shortages.

Ground Water↗

USGS2004

Morphology and sedimentation on open-coast intertidal flats of the Changjiang Delta, China

On many intertidal flats, lateral aggradation and reworking by large tidal channels is the dominant sedimentary process. On the open-coast intertidal flats of the Changjiang Delta large laterally migrating tidal channels are absent. Instead, numerous shallow tidal creeks cut across the intertidal flats. On these flats, vertical rather than lateral migration dominates sedimentation. Observations over semidiurnal tidal cycles show that both flood and ebb tides have the potential to deposit their own mud-sand couplets, but four couplets per day are rarely preserved. Reworking by tidal currents and/or weak waves results in loss of tidal couplets or amalgamation of two or more thin couplets into a single thick couplet. Measurements of preserved couplets show that they can represent a single flooding or ebbing event (half day) to a period of several neap-spring cycles. Diastems within amalgamated couplets are generally not distinguishable. The key agent for reworking open-coast intertidal flat deposits is not tidal creek migration but seasonal storm waves. Seasonal storm deposits consist of a basal scour and sand-dominant laminae with mud pebbles, grading upward to mud-dominated layers of fair-weather deposits. Sand-dominated layers are also reworked.

Conference Paper↗