Collaborative Research: Stratigraphic Controls on Freshwater Beneath the Continental Shelf

该项目将使用高分辨率多道和线性调频地震数据来表征马萨诸塞州马萨诸塞州S葡萄园岛附近大陆架沉积物的地层和沉积模式。这些沉积物拥有广泛的淡水含水层，与其环境不平衡。这项研究将把这些地球物理方法与水文模拟相结合，以更好地描述这一独特含水层的分布、化学和侵位机制。通过建模工作，将对在地质时期内影响这些含水层中地下水流动的强迫机制进行定量预测。到目前为止，这种含水层尚未得到太多研究，可能为海洋沿海环境提供水源和营养物质，因此是水循环中一个重要而被忽视的组成部分。更广泛的影响：淡水含水层，因为它们可能成为沿海地区人类消费的重要资源。这项研究将为三个私人投资机构各自的研究生提供支持。

This project will use high resolution multiple-channel (MCS) and chirp seismic data to characterize the stratigraphy and sedimentation patterns of continental shelf sediments off Martha?s Vineyard, Massachusetts. These sediments host an extensive freshwater aquifer which is out of equilibrium with its environment. The research will combine these geophysical methods with hydrological modeling to better describe the distribution, chemistry, and the emplacement mechanisms of this unique aquifer. From the modeling efforts quantitative predictions will be made of the forcing mechanisms that affect groundwater flow in such aquifers over geological time periods. Such aquifers have not received much study to date and could potentially provide a source of water and nutrients to marine coastal environments and thus be an important and overlooked component of the water cycle. Broader impacts: Freshwater aquifers as these could potentially serve as an important resource for human consumption in coastal regions. The research will support graduate students at each of the institutions of the three PIs.