Woods Hole Science Center
USGS Studies in the New York Bight
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**Click choices for more detailed images. Figure: Bathymetry of the coastal ocean offshore of the New York metropolitan region (bathymetry from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Relief Model). The sandy, relatively shallow mid-Atlantic continental shelf is incised by the Hudson Shelf Valley, the drainage channel for the Hudson River during a lower stand of sea level. The valley contains muddy sediments. A key research question addressed by the USGS studies is the role of the valley in sequestering and/or transporting sediments and associated pollutants. The shaded relief image was created by vertically exaggerating the shelf topography 100 times and the land topography 15 times, and then artificially illuminating the relief by a light source positioned 45 degrees above the horizon from an azimuth of 350 degrees. In the resulting image, topographic features are enhanced by strong illumination on the northward-facing slopes and by shadows cast on southern slopes. The depth is coded by color. | |||||||||
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