SEG-Y formatted chirp seismic-reflection profile data collected in the Indian River Bay, Delaware, on April 13, 2010, on U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2010-006-FA
type: Dataset
description: A geophysical survey to delineate the fresh-saline groundwater interface and associated sub-bottom sedimentary structures beneath Indian River Bay, Delaware, was carried out in April 2010. This included surveying at higher spatial resolution in the vicinity of a study site at Holts Landing, where intensive onshore and offshore studies were subsequently completed. The total length of continuous resistivity profiling (CRP) survey lines was 145 kilometers (km), with 36 km of chirp seismic lines surveyed around the perimeter of the bay. Medium-resolution CRP surveying was performed using a 50-meter streamer in a bay-wide grid. Results of the surveying and data inversion showed the presence of many buried paleochannels beneath Indian River Bay that generally extended perpendicular from the shoreline in areas of modern tributaries, tidal creeks, and marshes. An especially wide and deep paleochannel system was imaged in the southeastern part of the bay near White Creek. Many paleochannels also had high-resistivity anomalies corresponding to low-salinity groundwater plumes associated with them, likely due to the presence of fine-grained estuarine mud and peats in the channel fills that act as submarine confining units. Where present, these units allow plumes of low-salinity groundwater that was recharged onshore to move beyond the shoreline, creating a complex fresh-saline groundwater interface in the subsurface. The properties of this interface are important considerations in construction of accurate coastal groundwater flow models. These models are required to help predict how nutrient-rich groundwater, recharged in agricultural watersheds such as this one, makes its way into coastal bays and impacts surface water quality and estuarine ecosystems. For more information on the survey conducted for this project, see https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2010-006-FA.
issued: 2025-11-20T03:15:16.343388
modified: 20200908
spatial: Location
contact point: Organization
  fn: VeeAnn A. Cross
keyword: amerigeo
keyword: amerigeoss
keyword: chirp-seismics
keyword: ckan
keyword: cmgp
keyword: coastal-and-marine-geology-program
keyword: delaware
keyword: edgetech-424
keyword: field-activity-number-2010-006-fa
keyword: geo
keyword: geoscientificinformation
keyword: geoss
keyword: holts-landing
keyword: indian-river-bay
keyword: indian-river-inlet
keyword: info-bank-id-k-6-10-dl
keyword: location
keyword: lowrance-gps
keyword: marine-geophysics
keyword: national
keyword: navigation
keyword: north-america
keyword: north-atlantic-ocean
keyword: oceans
keyword: open-file-report-2011-1039
keyword: piney-neck
keyword: r-v-knob
keyword: rosedale-beach
keyword: seg-y
keyword: seismic-reflection-profile
keyword: sub-bottom-profiling
keyword: u-s-geological-survey
keyword: united-states
keyword: usgs
keyword: whcmsc
keyword: woods-hole-coastal-and-marine-science-center
theme: {geospatial}

Original Metadata
type: Distribution
description: The metadata original format
format: XML
issued: 2022-08-05T20:40:47.913504
modified: 2025-11-20T03:15:16.324414
access URL: https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.bfb1fca6-15ca-4d4e-8f12-8dfabd8473bf.xml
media type: text/xml

Digital Data
type: Distribution
description: Landing page for access to the data
format: XML
issued: 2022-08-05T20:40:47.913510
modified: 2025-11-20T03:15:16.324884
access URL: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1039/html/ofr2011-1039-catalog.html
media type: application/http

US Migrating
type: Agent