The problems of locating suitable and economical sand deposits led the U.S. Army, 

 Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) to initiate a search for 

 exploitable deposits of sand. Exploration efforts were focused offshore with the intent to 

 locate and inventory deposits suitable for future fill requirements, and later refine 

 techniques for specifying most suitable fill characteristics. 



The search for sand deposits, referred to initially as the Sand Inventory Program, started 

 in 1964 with a survey off the New Jersey coast. (Duane, 1969.) Subsequent data collection 

 surveys have included the inner Continental Shelf areas off New England, Long Island, 

 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the Cape Fear area of North Carolina, the east coast of 

 Florida, and southern California. During the past two years broader application to the 

 CERC mission of the data collected has been recognized, especially in terms of deciphering 

 the shallow structure of the Continental Shelf, understanding shelf sedimentation and 

 hydraulic processes, unraveling geologic history of the shelves and evaluating the potential 

 for engineering design of manmade structures on the shelf. This more diversified program is 

 now referred to as the Inner Continental Shelf Sediment and Structure Program (ICONS). 

 2. Field and Laboratory Procedures. 



The field exploration phase of the ICONS program uses continuous seismic reflection 

 profiling supplemented by cores of the bottom sediment. Both of these sources of data are 

 obtained by contractual agreement with ocean industry firms. These data are analyzed and 

 interpreted by the CERC Geology Branch staff. Support data are obtained from the 

 National Ocean Survey (NOS) (formerly U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) hydrographic 

 boat sheets, pertinent professional papers, engineering logs from bore holes and published 

 literature. 



a. Data Collection Planning. Geophysical survey tracklines are laid out for the study 

 areas by the CERC Geology Branch staff in two basic patterns: grid and reconnaissance 

 lines. A grid pattern, with variable line spacing depending on regional geology, is used to 

 cover areas where a more detailed picture of sea floor and subbottom geologic conditions is 

 desirable, usually those areas suspected of containing sand and gravel. Reconnaissance lines 

 consist of one or more continuous shore parallel zigzag lines which provide minimal 

 coverage for intermediate areas between grids, and a means of correlation of geology 

 between grid areas. Reconnaissance Unes provide sufficient information to reveal the general 

 morphologic and geologic aspects of the area and to identify sea floor areas where more 

 detailed additional data collection may be advisable. 



Selection of individual core sites is based on a continuous study of the seismic records as 

 they become available from the contractor during the survey. This procedure of picking core 

 locations based on geologic conditions revealed on the seismic records allows core-site 

 selection of the best information available and thus maximizes usefulness of both sources of 

 data. It also permits the contractor to complete the required work of obtaining geophysics 

 and cores in one area before moving his base of operations to the next area. 



