48 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 



Table 2-2.— Areas Surveyed and Estimated Offshore Sand Resources of the United States 



Area surveyed Sand volume 



Geographic area Seismic miles Cores (mile^) (x 10° cubic yards) 



New England: 



Maine 10 123 



Massachusetts (Boston) 175 57 



Rhode Island 25 141 



Connecticut (Long Island Sound) 50 130 



Area totals 1,900 280 260 531 



Southshore Long Island: 



Gardiners-Napeague Bays 100 162 



Montauk to Moriches Inlet 160 1,912 



Moriches to Fire Island Inlet 350 2,404 



Fire Island to East Rockaway Inlet 125 1,359 



Rockaway 50 1,031 



Area totals 955 122 785 6,868 



New Jersey: 



Sandy Hook 255 10 50 1,000 



Manasquan 86 11 25 60 



Barnegat 200 32 75 448 



Little Egg 389 38 120 180 



Cape May 760 107 340 1,880 



Area totals 1,660 198 610 3,568 



Virginia: 



Norfolk 260 57 180 20 



Delmarva 435 78 310 225 



North Carolina 734 112 950 218 



Florida: 



Northern: 



Fernandina— Cape Canaveral 1,328 197 1,650 295 



Southern: 



Cape Canaveral 356 91 350 2,000 



Cape Canaveral — Palm Beach 611 72 450 92 



Palm Beach— Miami 176 31 141 581 



Area totals 2,471 391 2,591 2,673 



California: 



Newport— Pt. Dume 360 69 140 491 



Pt. Dume— Santa Barbara 145 34 90 90 



Area totals 505 103 230 599 



Hawaii Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 



Great Lakes: 



Erie Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 



Grand totals 8,920 1,341 7,266 15,011 



SOURCES: Published and unpublished reports of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Engineering Research Center; David B. Duane, "Sedimentation and Ocean 

 Engineering: Placer Mineral Resources," Marine Sediment Transport and Environmental Management. D.J. Stanley and D.J. P. Swift (eds.) (New Yorl<, NY: 

 John Wiley & Sons, 1976), p. 550. 



depth of 130 feet or less are included in table 2-2. 

 A total of over 15 billion cubic yards of commer- 

 cial quality sand are identified in the table, and it 

 is fair to say that the potential for additional 

 amounts is large. Since the current annual U.S. 

 consumption of sand and gravel is about 1,050 mil- 

 lion cubic yards, these resources would clearly be 

 ample to meet the needs of the east coast for the 

 foreseeable future. 



Placer Deposits 



Offshore placer deposits are concentrations of 

 heavy detrital minerals that are resistant to the 

 chemical and physical processes of weathering. 

 Placer deposits are usually associated with sand and 

 gravel as they are concentrated by the same flu- 

 vial and marine processes that form gravel bars, 

 sand banks, and other surficial features. However, 



