Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Atlantic Coast And Inner Shelf, David E. Krantz, Carl H. Hobbs Iii, Geoffrey L. Wikel

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

The continental margin of Virginia, and of North America more broadly, is the physical transition from the high elevation of the continent to the low of the ocean basin. This transition was created as rifting pulled apart the ancient supercontinent Pangaea to create the Atlantic Ocean basin. Tectonic forces fractured and stretched the bedrock to create a stair-step ramp that subsequently would be mantled with sediment built up by erosion and transport off the continent.

The Coastal Plain and Continental Shelf of Virginia are contiguous and discrete physiographic provinces of the continental margin delimited by the present elevation of sea …

Submarine Sand Resources, Southeastern Virginia - Contributions From Year Nine And Year Ten Of Virginia’S Continental Margins Program, Carl Hobbs Iii, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., C. R. Berquist

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Virginia’s Year-Nine and Year-Ten funds from the Continental Shelf Program were used to supplement other work funded by the Minerals Management Service in an ongoing Cooperative Agreement focused on the area offshore of southeastern Virginia. Year-Nine and Year-Ten funds facilitated interpretation of subbottom profiles and the analysis of sediment samples from cores and grabs. On Virginia’s sediment-starved continental shelf, deposits of material potentially suitable for use as beach nourishment or, perhaps, as construction aggregate occur in three stratigraphic settings, each with specific characteristics of morphology, grain-size gradients, likelihood of discovery, and physical ease of exploitation. All must be verified with …

Central Atlantic Coastal Plain - A Summary Of The Geological Evolution Of Chesapeake Bay, Eastern United States, Steven M. Colman, Jeffrey P. Halka, C. Hobbs

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

The seaward margin of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain has fluctuated through time, from near the Fall Line to near the edge of the present Outer Continental Shelf, owing to changes in relative sea level. The strata that underlie the Coastal Plain were deposited in environments that ranged from fully terrestrial to fully marine. Estuarine environments are critical components of the Coastal Plain; they represent the interface, otherwise known as the shoreline, between the marine and terrestrial depositional systems. The Quaternary evolution of estuaries has important implications for both documenting the history of sea-level changes and interpreting ancient coastal-plain strata. …

Quaternary Geology Of The Chesapeake Bay, Jeffrey P. Halka, Steven M. Colman, Carl H. Hobbs Iii

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

The Chesapeake Bay, which is a classic coastal plain estuary, is located on a trailing edge continental margin. It has a surface area of nearly 6,000 km2 and ranges in width from 8 to 48 km. The morphology of the bay clearly reflects its formation as a response to fluctuating sea level during and following the last major continental glaciation. The shoreline is highly irregular, the tributaries form an intricate dendritic drainage pattern, and a deep axial channel occurs along much of its length (fig. 1). Water depths commonly exceed 30m in this deep channel, which is flanked by broad …