the purpose of finding the extent and characteristics of sand deposits 

 on the nearshore Continental Shelf, in water depths of 15-100 feet. An 

 initial phase in developing techniques for transferring offshore sand to 

 the beach is described by Mauriello (1967) . 



The exploration phase of the program uses seismic reflection profil- 

 ing supplemented by cores of the marine bottom. Additional supporting 

 data for the studies are obtained from USC^GS hydrographic boat sheets 

 and published scientific literature. 



Survey tracklines were laid out by the CERC Geology Branch staff 

 in either of two line patterns: grid and reconnaissance lines. A grid 

 pattern (line spacing at approximately one statute mile intervals) was 

 used to cover areas where a more detailed development of bottom and sub- 

 bottom conditions were desired. Reconnaissance lines are one or several 

 continuous zigzag lines followed to explore areas between grids and to 

 provide a means of correlating sonic reflection horizons between grids. 

 Reconnaissance lines provide sufficient information to reveal the general 

 morphologic and geologic aspect of the area covered and to identify the 

 most promising places for additional data collection. 



Core sites were selected on the basis of a continuing review of the 

 seismic profiles as they became available throughout the course of survey 

 operations. This procedure allowed selection on the best information 

 available while permitting the contractor to complete coring operations 

 in one area before moving his base to the next area. Fundamentals of 

 planning and field techniques, i.e., sonic profiling, coring, and posi- 

 tioning, utilized in the conduct of CERC sand inventory programs are 

 detailed in Appendix A. 



Sediment cores taken during the field operation for the Florida 

 Sand Inventory Program were examined megascopically aboard the vessel 

 by the contractor, capped and shipped to CERC for further analysis. 



Samples for laboratory processing were removed from the cores by 

 drilling through the plastic liner at selected sampling intervals and 

 withdrawing a 60- to 80-gram sample. All cores were sampled at top and 

 bottom; additional samples were withdrawn at other intervals as needed 

 to reflect vertical changes in grain size and lithology within the core. 



Samples were air- or oven-dried, broken into component parts if 

 necessary, and split to 8- to 10-grara portions. The portion selected for 

 size analysis was rinsed in distilled water until a silver nitrate test 

 for c)0 Bride was negative. Size analyses of the majority of samples were 

 conducted on a Rapid Sediment Analyzer (RSA) . The RSA at CERC, similar 

 to those described by Zeigler (1960) and Schlee (1966), is used to 

 determine the grain size distributional characteristics of. sediment, 

 especially grains in the size-range from 62 to 2,000 microns, as they 

 settle through a 1-meter column of water. Coupled to a digital voltmeter 

 and a card punch, pressure data from the RSA is recorded directly on 

 punched cards and on a strip-chart (Figure 1) . By means of a computer 



