Delaware Estuary

Morphology and Tidal Inundation of Tidal Wetlands in the Delaware Estuary

Project Contact(s)

An expanse of tidal wetlands fringes the Delaware Estuary and provides Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey with abundant ecosystem services including habitat for indigenous and migrating plants and wildlife, biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, preserving water quality, flood hazard mitigation

RI81 Characterization of Tidal Wetland Inundation in the Murderkill Estuary

A parameterization of tidal marsh inundation was developed for the 1,200 hectares of tidal marsh along the 12-km reach of the tidal Murderkill River between Frederica and Bowers Beach in Kent County, Delaware. A parsimonious modeling approach was used that bridges the gap between the simple and often used “bathtub model” (instantaneous inundation based on tides in Delaware Bay), and the more complex modeling of shallow overland that results in the wetting and drying of tidal marshes.

Temporal Imaging of the Intertidal Critical Zone

Project Contact(s)

We are developing an innovative ground-based imaging system to collect multi-spectral imagery (visible, near and thermal infrared bands) at time-scales (minutes/hours) below those of the dominant processes in intertidal environments (semi-diurnal tides, day/night). A modular system based on mature imaging technology is being assembled for science missions by foot, boat, truck, tower, and lift. This project consists of some critical laboratory studies to test our conceptual framework.

MS3 Geologic Cross-Section of Delaware River, Red Lion Creek to Killcohook National Wildlife Refuge

Test borings made in preparation for construction of a power line
across the 2.3 miles wide Delaware River provided an opportunity to
investigate the geology beneath the river which is otherwise inaccessible.
The information is of value in studies of ground-water development
near the River and for other engineered works as well as
understanding the geologic history of a major feature of the State.

RI70 Thickness and Transmissivity of the Unconfined Aquifer of Eastern Sussex County, Delaware

The unconfined portion of the Columbia aquifer is a key hydrologic unit in Delaware, supplying water to many agricultural, domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation wells. The aquifer is recharged through infiltration of precipitation and is the source of fair-weather stream flow and water in deeper confined aquifers. The aquifer occurs in permeable sediments ranging in age from Miocene to Recent. Over most of Delaware, the top of the unconfined or water-table portion of the Columbia aquifer occurs at depths less than 10 feet below land surface.

RI68 Estimation of the Water Table for the Inland Bays Watershed, Delaware

A geographic information system-based study was used to estimate the elevation of the water table in the Inland Bays watershed of Sussex County, Delaware, under dry, normal, and wet conditions. Evaluation of the results from multiple estimation methods indicates that a multiple linear regression method is the most viable tool to estimate the elevation of the regional water table for the Coastal Plain of Delaware. The variables used in the regression are elevation of a minimum water table and depth to the minimum water table from land surface.

RI36 History of Oil and Gas Exploration in the Mid-Atlantic Region and Delaware's Involvement in the Federal OCS Leasing Program

There has been sporadic exploration for oil and gas in the Mid-Atlantic region for over 50 years. Non-commercial deposits of oil and gas have recently been discovered in the sedimentary rock section of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 80 miles off the New Jersey-Delaware coast. The oil and gas occurs within entrapment structures in ancient rocks deposited and buried in a deep basin called the Baltimore Canyon trough. This trough forms part of the Coastal Plain and continental shelf geologic provinces on the Atlantic Coast.

OFR37 Summary Report: The Coastal Storm of December 10-14, 1992, Delaware and Maryland

On December 10, a low pressure system moved rapidly north-northwest from eastern North Carolina and Virginia, up the Chesapeake Bay to a position just west of Chestertown in Kent County, Maryland by 0700 on December 11. The system then moved irregularly to the southeast, stalled for several hours over Georgetown, Delaware, and proceeded offshore early on December 12. Approximate locations of the storm's track are shown on Figure 1. The storm had associated rain that contributed to some local stream flooding and high winds that created strong surf and waves.

B12 Columbia (Pleistocene) Sediments of Delaware

The Columbia deposits of Delaware form a sheet of sand with a maximum thickness of approximately 150 feet which covers most of the Coastal Plain portion of the State. The dispersal pattern, deduced from foreset dip directions of cross-bedding, indicates that the sediment entered the study area from the northeast, i.e., from the direction of the valley of the Delaware River between Wilmington and Trenton, and spread south and southeast over Delaware.