Sediment Transport and Deposition in Long Island Sound

Abstract

This chapter discusses sediment transport and deposition in Long Island Sound (LIS). The processes of sediment transport and deposition are believed to have operated continuously with little change in rate since the start of the present marine regime in LIS at 8000-yr BP. The integrated flux of riverine sediment supplied to the Sound over the past 8000 years at the present supply rate is nearly equal to the mass of mud, which has accumulated in that time. Characteristic parameters of the LIS sedimentary system are presented, and the characteristic power parameters for bottom processes in the LIS are summarized. Nature of materials forming the shore of Long Island is also described. Sediment transport and bottom stability is analyzed, and evidences are presented to show that new silt-clay-size sediment entering LIS is rapidly incorporated into the surfacial layer of pellets that mantles the mud bottom. The average rate of accumulation of marine mud on the bottom of LIS over the past 8000 years is also calculated.