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W. C. Schwab

Publications and source records attributed to W. C. Schwab.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
USGS1997

Initial results of high-resolution sea-floor mapping offshore of the New York - New Jersey metropolitan area using sidescan sonar

High-resolution seismic, sidescan-sonar, multibeam bathymetry, and sediment sampling techniques were used to map the surficial geology and shallow subbottom stratigraphy of a segment of the inner shelf and nearshore region of New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. Preliminary analyses of these data provide a sedimentologic framework for addressing a wide range of science and management issues. Principal features identified include: 1) a series of sharply defined, rippled scour depressions in the nearshore areas of Long Island and New Jersey that are thought to be an erosional pattern indicative of storm-induced cross-shelf sediment-transport processes from the shoreface; 2) outcropping Upper Cretaceous to early Tertiary coastal plain strata and associated gravelly lag deposits; 3 ) morphologic and chemical indications of anthropogenic waste disposal and redistribution; 4) extensive deposits of medium- to fine-grained sand northeast and east of the Hudson Shelf Valley; 5) acoustic backscatter patterns on the sidescan imagery and sediment bedforms that indicate a general south-southwest sediment transport direction toward the Hudson Shelf Valley; and 6) the Hudson Shelf Valley is a depositional site for silty sediment and acts as a conduit for cross-shelf pollutant transport.

Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences↗
USGS1996

Sediment mass-flow processes on a depositional lobe, outer Mississippi Fan

SeaMARC 1A sidescan-sonar imagery and cores from the distal reaches of a depositional lobe on the Mississippi Fan show that channelized mass flow was the dominant mechanism for transport of silt and sand during the formation of this part of the fan. Sediments in these flows were rapidly deposited once outside of their confining channels. The mass flows most likely originated from slope failure at the head of the Mississippi Canyon or on the outer continental shelf and flowed approximately 500 km to the distal reaches of the fan, with debris flow being the dominant flow type.

Mississippi↗
USGS1996

Sediment distribution on a storm-dominated insular shelf, Luquillo, Puerto Rico, U.S.A.

A sea-floor mapping investigation designed to assess the sediment distribution, the movement of the nearshore sand supply, and the fate of sediment eroded from the shoreline was conducted using high-resolution sidescan-sonar, seismic reflection, and sediment sampling techniques on the northern insular shelf of Puerto Rico, off the town of Luquillo. Sea-floor structures and the distribution of sediment texture and composition suggest that regional oceanographic processes result in a net offshore direction for cross-shelf sediment transport on the middle and outer shelf during storms. If these same processes are active on the inner shelf, mapping results indicate that this sediment is not transported seaward of a series of east-west trending Pleistocene-age eolianite ridges that outcrop on the middle shelf. The eolianite ridges may act as natural dams, preventing the removal of sediment from the nearshore area. Sand deposits behind the "dams" are up to 20 m thick on the shoreward flank of the ridges.

Puerto Rico↗
USGS1995

Geometry of sandy deposits at the distal edge of the Mississippi Fan, Gulf of Mexico

Sidescan sonar provides a map of the seafloor that has greatly improved the understanding of depositional processes on modern deep-sea fans (e.g. Mutti and Normark 1991). Here, we present a sidescan-sonar mosaic from the eastern Gulf of Mexico that images the distal reaches of a channel on the Mississippi Fan and the deposits associated with it (Fig. 41.1). This area is one of several deep-sea fan systems that had not previously been imaged by high-resolution sidescan systems. The mosaic highlights the complexity of the spatial relationships of channels and deposits at ends of channels on this large, modern, passive-margin deep-sea fan (Figs 41.2 and 41.3).

Mississippi↗
USGS1992

Characteristics of a sandy depositional lobe on the outer Mississippi fan from SeaMARC IA sidescan sonar images

SeaMARC IA sidescan sonar images of the distal reaches of a depositional lobe on the Mississippi Fan show that channelized rather than unconfined transport was the dominant transport mechanism for coarse-grained sediment during the formation of this part of the deep-sea fan. Overbank sheet flow of sands was not an important process in the transport and deposition of the sandy and silty sediment found on this fan. The dendritic distributary pattern and the high order of splaying of the channels, only one of which appears to have been active at a time, suggest that coarse-grained deposits on this fan are laterally discontinuous.

Mississippi↗
USGS1992

Upper Pleistocene turbidite sand beds and chaotic silt beds in the channelized, distal, outer-fan lobes of the Mississippi fan

Cores from a Mississippi outer-fan depositional lobe demonstrate that sublobes at the distal edge contain a complex local network of channelized-turbidite beds of graded sand and debris-flow beds of chaotic silt. Off-lobe basin plains lack siliciclastic coarse-grained beds. The basin-plain mud facies exhibit low acoustic backscatter on SeaMARC IA sidescan sonar images, whereas high acoustic backscatter characteristic of the lobe sand and silt facies. The depth of the first sand-silt layer correlates with relative backscatter intensity and stratigraphic age of the distal sublobes (i.e., shallowest sand = highest backscatter and youngest sublobe). The high proportion (>50%) of chaotic silt compared to graded sand in the distal, outer-fan sublobes may be related to the unstable, muddy, canyon-wall source areas of the extensive Mississippi delta-fed basin slope. A predominace of chaotic silt in cores or outcrops from outer-fan lobes thus may predict similar settings for ancient fans.

Mississippi Fan↗
USGS1991

A giant submarine slope failure on the northern insular slope of Puerto Rico

A large amphitheater-shaped scarp, approximately 55 km across, was imaged on the northern insular slope of Puerto Rico using long-range sidescan sonar and bathymetric data. This scarp results from the removal of more than 1500 km 3 of Tertiary strata. A review of seismic-reflection profiles, stratigraphic data, and subsidence models of the northern insular margin of Puerto Rico were used to infer that large-scale slope failure was induced by the tectonic oversteepening of the insular slope and was responsible for the formation of the scarp. The oversteepening probably was caused by the most recent episode of convergence of the Caribbean and North American plates, which began between approximately 4 and 2.5 m.y. ago. The Tertiary strata have been tilted approximately 4.5° to the north in the last 4 m.y.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1991

Quantitative controls on submarine slope failure morphology

The concept of the steady-state of deformation can be applied to predicting the ultimate form a landslide will take. The steady-state condition, defined by a line in void ratio-effective stress space, exists at large levels of strain and remolding. Conceptually, if sediment initially exists with void ratio-effective stress conditions above the steady-state line, the sediment shear strength will decrease during a transient loading event, such as an earthquake or storm. If the reduced shear strength existing at the steady state is less than the downslope shear stress induced by gravity, then large-scale internal deformation, disintegration, and flow will occur. -from Authors

Marine Geotechnology↗
USGS1991

Near-real-time mosaics from high-resolution side-scan sonar

High-resolution side-scan sonar has proven to be a very effective tool for stuyding and understanding the surficial geology of the seafloor. Since the mid-1970s, the US Geological Survey has used high-resolution side-scan sonar systems for mapping various areas of the continental shelf. However, two problems typically encountered included the short range and the high sampling rate of high-resolution side-scan sonar systems and the acquisition and real-time processing of the enormous volume of sonar data generated by high-resolution suystems. These problems were addressed and overcome in August 1989 when the USGS conducted a side-scan sonar and bottom sampling survey of a 1000-sq-km section of the continental shelf in the Gulf of Farallones located offshore of San Francisco. The primary goal of this survey was to map an area of critical interest for studying continental shelf sediment dynamics. This survey provided an opportunity to test an image processing scheme that enabled production of a side-scan sonar hard-copy mosaic during the cruise in near real-time.

Sea Technology↗