Character and distribution of exposed glaciodeltaic deposits off outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and their effects on hydrogeology and benthic habitats

Abstract

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geo-Marine Letters 26 (2006): 51-57, doi:10.1007/s00367-005-0015-x.Sea-bed outcrops of glaciodeltaic sediments were identified in four places east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts during seismic-reflection, multibeam bathymetric and backscatter, bottom photographic, and sediment sampling surveys. These strata record coarser-grained ice-proximal glaciofluvial topset to finer-grained distal glaciolacustrine bottomset deposition within deltaic systems that prograded southwestward into glacial lakes from the South Channel lobe about 18 ka B.P. These beds are important because they (1) influence the outer Cape's hydrogeologic framework, and (2) provide relatively stable, locally rough habitats within an area of seafloor dominated by mobile sand and gravelly sediment, and benefit the benthic fauna by providing shelter and a substrate amenable to burrow construction.This work was supported by the Coastal and Marine Geology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey