U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-194

By Pattie C. Baucom, John F. Bratton, Steven M. Colman, Jennifer M. Moore, John King, Chip Heil, and Robert Seal

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Main Text (4.08 megabytes)

Appendix A: Magnetic Susceptibility Data (103 kilobytes)

Appendix B: Core Descriptions and X-Radiographs (3.56 megabytes)

Appendix C: Water Content Data (45 kilobytes)

Appendix D: Biogenic Silica Data (71 kilobytes)

Appendix E: Trace-Metal Data (34 kilobytes)

Appendix F: Rhenium, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Isotope Data (69 kilobytes)

Abstract

As part of a study of recent history of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, one- to eight- meter long sediment cores were obtained from the mesohaline section of the Chesapeake Bay between the mouths of the Potomac and Rhode Rivers. The sediments consist of three lithofacies: coarse-grained channel deposits, restricted-estuary sands and muds, and open-estuary muds. Water content, biogenic silica, magnetic susceptibility, trace metals, and nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, and their isotopes) were measured in the cores. Biogenic silica, trace-metal, and nutrient data provide a strong basis for discussing past primary productivity and water-column anoxia in the bay.

Selected Data for Sediment Cores Collected in Chesapeake Bay in 1996 and 1998