4. Geographic Setting. 



The Inner New York Bight is situated just south of the maximum southerly advance of 

 the continental glaciers which periodically covered much of the Northern Hemisphere 

 during the Pleisticene Epoch. Two terminal moraines comprise the northern backbone of 

 Long Island; the southern flank is composed of glaciofluvial outwash derived from the 

 adjacent glacial deposits. The elongate east-west trending barrier islands which extend the 

 120-mile length of the south shore of Long Island are geologically Recent features resulting 

 from deposition of sandy sediment carried by westward-moving longshore currents. (Taney, 

 1961.) 



Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey is a nonglaciated headland region lying south of 

 maximum glacial advance. Though an area of considerable relief it has a straight and regular 

 coastline and a narrow shoreface including Sandy Hook, a classic example of a recurved spit 

 which has prograded northward toward New York Harbor. This growth is the result of an 

 estimated net longshore sand drift of 500,000 cubic yards per year to the north. (Caldwell, 

 1966.) 



There are four major rivers in the region which have significantly modified the terrain in 

 the past and continue to influence the region today. The Hudson River is the largest of the 

 four and has exerted the most influence in the area. It originates in the foothills of the 

 Adirondack Mountains and flows in a southerly direction for about 200 miles past 

 Manhattan through The Narrows and finally discharges into Lower New York Bay. 



The second major river is the Raritan which originates in northern New Jersey and 

 meanders south of the Watchung Mountains until it discharges into Raritan Bay, 

 immediately south of Staten Island. 



The Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers parallel each other in the Atlantic Highlands region 

 of New Jersey. They both trend northeast and their discharges are blocked from entering 

 the sea by a barrier beach; the water is diverted northward into Sandy Hook Bay. In historic 

 time both rivers had direct access to the Atlantic Ocean; however, northward littoral 

 currents constructed a sand barrier which may be breached by future storms and again allow 

 the rivers to flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean. 



5. Geologic Setting and Regional Stratigraphy. 



The Inner New York Bight lies within the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province which is 

 underlain at shallow depths by Upper Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary semiconsoli- 

 dated, clastic, sedimentary rocks. This region falls within the northeast corridor which was 

 studied in detail by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), (1967) for geological and 

 foundation engineering considerations. Within a 100-mile radius to the north and west a 

 diversity of rock types of various geologic ages are exposed in other physiographic provinces. 

 (See Figure 3.) These older rocks provided major source areas in the past for Coastal Plain 

 and Continental Shelf sediments and are still available for subaerial erosion and subsequent 

 transport of detritus to Continental Shelf areas. A brief account of the primary rock 

 formations is germane to this report. 



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