The reef off the eastern coast of Andros extends from the Berry 

 Islands in the north to Pigeon Cay in the south. It varies in 

 development, does not present a solid barrier throughout, and is 

 more pronounced at some locations than at others. According to 

 Newell et_ al (1957), the reef consists of a narrow ridge of oolite 

 which rises in places to form small cays, and in certain areas has 

 been overgrown with algae-coral encrustations which form a broad 

 underwater ridge several hundred feet wide. 



Seaward of the reef an outer platform extends eastward a quarter 

 of a mile or more. The platform terminates abruptly at a depth 

 between 14 and 16 fathoms where a sharp break-in-slope occurs which 

 serves as the boundary delineating deep from shallow water. At the 

 break-in-slope an escarpment descends almost vertically to depths 

 between 100 and 120 fathoms. Below this depth, the slope gradient 

 decreases continuously toward the deep sea floor in the center of 

 the Tongue of the Ocean. The uniform slope seaward of the outer 

 platform is interrupted in several places by terraces which parallel 

 the barrier reef. 



PREVIOUS STUDIES 



Prior to this study, considerable effort was expended on AUTEC 

 site surveys in connection with base constnaction and dredging. 

 Other studies, not connected with the project, provided oceano- 

 graphic information of general and specific interest. 



NAVOCEANO performed bathymetric surveys of the lagoon and 

 reef areas off all the sites, as well as in the Tongue of the 

 Ocean, which provided coverage of the areas studied herein. 

 Private organizations performed surveys of the land sites for 

 construction purposes and provided detailed topographic maps. 

 In some instances, the contractors made soil borings in the 

 lagoon to determine the unconsolidated sand thickness. 



Newell et al_ (1957) charted the entire Andros reef and their 

 results provTded an excellent and detailed guideline for this 

 study. 



