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Studying Submarine Ground Water in Rhode Island Under Arctic Conditions
Scientists from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offices in Massachusetts and Connecticut, along with a graduate student from the University of Rhode Island (URI), spent a chilly day in January on the waters of the Ninigret Pond estuary in Rhode Island collecting electrical-resistivity and shallow seismic-reflection data.
The work was performed as the pilot phase of an effort to constrain the coastal boundary between fresh and salty ground water in the area for a regional ground-water-flow model under development. The team's efforts were hampered by ice, high winds, a stiff steering mechanism, and a snow squall. After processing the data the next day, however (indoors), it became clear that the data collected were excellent and provided significant new information for planning future phases of the project. Previous work by a young Bill Dillon (USGS, Woods Hole, MA, emeritus) published 34 years ago laid the foundation for interpretation of the new data. Participants in the January operation included John Masterson and Rob Breault (USGS, Northborough, MA), Eric White (USGS, Storrs, CT), Andrea Hougham and Brad Moran (URI's Graduate School of Oceanography), and John Crusius and John Bratton (USGS, Woods Hole, MA). Additional surveys in Rhode Island, including collection of data on the ocean side of the barrier beach, are planned for later this spring.
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in this issue:
cover story: Submarine Ground Water in Rhode Island Underwater Microscope System Patented Meeting Highlights Florida's Natural Beauty Coastal Environmental Indicators Workshop Internet Tools Featured at Tampa Bay Workshop Normark and Oremland Selected AGU Fellows |