Sidescan Sonar Imagery and Surficial Geologic Interpretation
of the Sea Floor off Branford, Connecticut

OFR 2004-1003 Home  

Introduction

Geologic Setting

Bathymetry

Data Acquisition and Processing

Sidescan Imagery

GIS Data Catalog

References

Figures List

Acknowledgments

Contacts

Disclaimer

README

 BATHYMETRY DISCUSSION

The sea floor in the central and southern parts of the Branford study area has a relatively smooth gradient that slopes gradually toward the south-southeast (DiGiacomo-Cohen and others, 1998). However, the sea floor in the northern part of the study area is more complex. Two isolated bathymetric highs, Townshend Ledge and Branford Reef, occur in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the study area, respectively. These bathymetric highs are composed of reworked glacial materials that represent the offshore continuation of the Madison moraine (Flint and Gebert, 1976; Needell and others, 1987). Water depths in the study area range from less than 2 m on the crest of Branford Reef and less than 6 m on the crest of Townshend Ledge to more than 26 m in the southeast corner of the study area. Townshend Ledge rises about 10 m over the surrounding sea floor which progressively shoals  toward the northwest. Branford Reef rises about 8 m above the adjacent sea floor, but is flanked by shallow, isolated, east-west trending elongate depressions on its northern and southern sides.

The bathymetric data layer supplied with this report was originally released by DiGiacomo-Cohen and others (1998).  The contours, which are from NOAA 1:100,000 bathy-topo sheets and bathy-fishing maps, were digitally obtained partially by table digitizing and through scanning and vectorization.