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U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010–1100

Surficial Geology of the Sea Floor in Long Island Sound Offshore of Orient Point, New York

Bottom Photography

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Click on figure for larger image
Thumbnail image of figure 25 and link to larger figure. Location of bottom photographs taken in the study area.
Figure 25. Location of bottom photographs taken during R/V Rafael cruise 2010-010 north of Orient Point.

A total of 106 still photographs of the sea floor were obtained at 26 locations as part of this study (fig. 25). The small SEABOSS system was used to obtain three to seven still photographs and video at each station as the SEABOSS drifted approximately 50 cm over the seabed for 2 to 5 minutes. Photographs were taken where the scientist observed interesting features and sea floor representative of the station. The field of view of each image is approximately 50 cm.

The still and video photography shows that 7 of the stations in the study area had rippled sand and (or) sand waves, 16 stations were gravelly or bouldery, and 3 were sandy without a strong presence of bedforms. Shells, crabs, and seaweed are common on the sea floor and boulders are commonly encrusted with seaweed, hydroids, hydrozoans, sponges, and anemones. Current scour can be seen around gravel and shells at some stations.

Low-resolution images (150 x 113 pixels) of the photographs may be viewed by browsing the thumbnails in the photo gallery below. These thumbnails are hyperlinked to medium-resolution images (600 x 450 pixels) for more detailed viewing. A WinZip file with all the medium-resolution images from the study area may be accessed by clicking here. Alternatively, the directory containing the full-resolution images (2560 x 1920 pixels) may be accessed by clicking here. These full-resolution images can be identified using the .jpg image names in the galleries below. Textural analyses of samples obtained at these stations, where available, are provided in the Sediments section of this report.

Photo Gallery

Station  /   Lithologic Description

OP1 / Boulders near shore give way to a flat to undulating sandy sea floor. Animal tracks, scour marks from seaweed-rafted gravel, and burrows are common. Traces of shell debris, hermit crabs, and drifting seaweed are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op1a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op1b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op1c		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op1d

 

OP2 / Undulating to faintly rippled sand with scattered burrows and patches of amphipod tubes. Spider crabs and seaweed-rafting gravel are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op2a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op2b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op2c

 

 

OP3 / Sand waves covered with current-rippled sand. Fine-grained organic debris and traces of shell debris collect primarily in the ripple troughs. Drifting seaweed is present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op3a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op3b

 

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op3c

 

 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op3d

 

OP4 / Flat sea floor composed primarily of gravel. Hydrozoans; attached and drifting kelp; and spider, hermit, and cancer crabs are present.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op4a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op4b		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op4c		  
Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op4d		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op4e

 

 

  

OP5 / Boulders variably overgrown with seaweed, hydroids, hydrozoans, sponges, and anemones. Patches of burrowed and rippled sand, pea- to cobble-sized gravel, and shell debris cover the sea floor between the boulders.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op5a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op5b		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op5c
 
Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op5d		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op5e

 

 

  

OP6 / Current-rippled sand, perhaps in a thin layer over gravel, and patches of gravel. Spider crabs, hydrozoans, and barnacles on the larger gravel are present. Scour features are common.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op6a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op6b		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op6c
 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op6d

 

OP7 / Rippled sand with patches of gravel in the trough of a barchanoid sand wave. Mussel and echinoderm shells and shell debris are present primarily in the ripple troughs; the larger gravel is covered with barnacles.

Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op7a

 

 Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op7b

 

 Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op7c

 

 Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op7d

OP8 / Barchanoid sand wave covered with current-rippled sand and megaripples. Organic debris veneers the rippled sand. Pea gravel and shell debris collect primarily in the ripple troughs. The sand is burrowed; scattered cobbles are present in the wave trough. Snails are common.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op8a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op8b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op8c
 
Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op8d		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op8e

 


 

OP9 / Boulders variably overgrown with anemones, sponges, hydroids, hydrozoans, and green and red seaweed. Cobble-sized gravel and attached seaweed cover most of the sea floor between the boulders, but burrowed patches of sand with spider and cancer crabs become more common along the transect.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op9a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op9b

 

 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op9c


Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op9d

OP10 / Flat to undulating sand. Burrows are common; animal tracks, snails, and spider and hermit crabs are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op10a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op10b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op10c
 
Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op10d		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op10e

 


 

OP11 / Flat to undulating sand. Burrows are common; worm and amphipod tubes, hermit crabs, and scour features around larger shells are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op11a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op11b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op11c
 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op11d

 

OP12 / Sand waves covered with current-rippled sand. Pea gravel and shell debris collect primarily in the ripple troughs. Moon snails and sand dollars are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op12a

 

 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op12b		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op12c 		Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op12d

OP13 / Current-rippled sand with scattered and patchy distributions of gravel. A few scattered boulders overgrown with seaweed, some of which is kelp; mussel and radiating bivalve shells and shell debris; and hydrozoans are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op13a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op13b

 

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op13c
 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op13d

 

OP14 / Boulders variably overgrown with hydroids, hydrozoans, seaweed, anemones, sponges, and barnacles. Scattered pea- to cobble-sized gravel, mussels, and attached seaweed cover the sea floor between the boulders. Starfish are present.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op14a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op14b		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op14c

 
Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op14d		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op14e

 

 

OP15 / Boulders variably overgrown with hydroids, hydrozoans, seaweed, anemones, and barnacles. Scattered pea- to cobble-sized gravel and attached seaweed cover the sea floor between the boulders.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15b		Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15c
 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15d
Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15e		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op15f

 

 

OP16 / Boulders variably overgrown with hydroids, hydrozoans, seaweed, sponges, anemones, and barnacles. Rippled sand with scattered gravel and shell debris cover the sea floor between the boulders. Scour features are present around the gravel.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16b		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16c
 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16d
Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16e		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16f

 

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op16g

 

OP17 / Current-rippled sand with scattered patches of gravel. Mussel, surf clam, and whelk shell debris is common, especially in ripple troughs. Scour features are present around gravel and the larger shells.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op17a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op17b

 

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op17c

 

OP18 / Boulders overgrown with hydrozoans and seaweed, including kelp. Rippled sand, pebble- and cobble-sized gravel, and shell debris cover the sea floor between the boulders.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op18a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op18b

 

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op18c
 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op18d

 

OP19 / Scattered boulders and cobbles in rippled sand. Boulders are variably covered with hydrozoans, hydroids, sponges, barnacles, and anemones. Scour features around gravel and mussels and mussel-shell debris are common. Some quahog-shell and surf-clam debris is present.

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op19a		 Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op19b

 

Photograph showing a bouldery sea floor.
op19c

 

OP20 / Current-rippled sand with patches of gravel. Mussels, mussel-shell debris, scour features around the gravel, and pieces of drifting seaweed are common.

Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op20a		 Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op20b

 

Photograph showing a sandy and gravelly sea floor.
op20c

 

OP21 / Sand waves covered with current-rippled sand. Small patches of pea gravel, mussel- and quahog-shell debris concentrated in the ripple troughs, moon snails, drifting seaweed, and jelly fish in the water column are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op21a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op21b

 

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op21c

 

OP22 / Flat to faint longitudinally rippled sand with scattered burrows. Sea floor has a slightly current-swept appearance with drifting seaweed.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op22a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op22b

 

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op22c

 

OP23 / Boulders covered with hydrozoans, sponges, and seaweed interspaced by patches of pebble- and cobble-sized gravel and sand. Attached seaweed includes kelp. Numerous starfish are present.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op23a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op23b

 

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op23c
 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op23d

 

OP24 / Faintly rippled sand with scattered burrows and patches of amphipod tubes. Starfish, whelk-egg casings, traces of shell hash, drifting seaweed, and driftwood are present.

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op24a		 Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op24b

 

Photograph showing a sandy sea floor.
op24c

 

OP25 / Mega-rippled and rippled gravelly sediment and patches of sand. Abundant mussel-shell debris with some surf-clam and quahog shells occurs primarily in the ripple troughs. Scattered burrows and drifting kelp and nondescript seaweed are present.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op25a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op25b

 

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op25c

 

OP26 / Gravelly sediment with scattered cobbles and patches of rippled sand. Cobbles partially covered with barnacles and hydrozoans. Abundant mussels and mussel- and surf-clam shell debris, starfish, scour around gravel, and attached and drifting kelp and nondescript seaweed are present.

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op26a		 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op26b

 

Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op26c
 Photograph showing a gravelly sea floor.
op26d

 
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