As a result of CERC recommendations, the U.S. Army Engineer District, Phila- 

 delphia, conducted additional detailed surveys of area E to evaluate it as a 

 primary source for fill as part of their beach erosion control and storm pro- 

 tection study for Cape May and Lower Township CU-S. Army Engineer District, 

 Philadelphia, 1979). In September 1978, 27 vibratory cores and 47 kilometers of 

 fathometer profiles were collected in a fairly dense matrix with a core spacing 

 of about 305 meters. Analyses of the cores confirmed that clean, medium-grained 

 sands with a median diameter of 0.4 millimeter (1.27 phi) are present to depths 

 of about 3.7 meters (12 feet). The penetration records from the cores also 

 showed that the sands at the base of the shoal are very dense which suggests 

 that marine Holocene type A sediments in the shoal are underlain by fluvial pre- 

 Holocene silty sands. 



e. Borrow Area J. Area J is a fingerlike shoal detached from the lower 

 shoreface off Two Mile Beach to the east of Cape May Inlet. Core 108 and the 

 accompanying seismic data show that suitable sand to a thickness of at least 

 6.1 meters is present and the estimated volume is about 145 million cubic 

 meters, which makes area J the second largest (the largest is Five Fathom Bank 

 in area K, with 472 million cubic meters) potential borrow area in the study 

 area. Although the area offers much promise as a fill source, it is a minimum 

 of 5.4 kilometers from the Cape May beaches and may be better suited to possible 

 future projects along the Wildwood shore. 



III. SUMMARY 



A geologic study using seismic reflection profiles and sedimentary cores 

 (a maximum of 3.7 meters long) was made of the Inner Continental Shelf region 

 off Cape May, New Jersey, to locate and delineate sand and gravel suitable for 

 beach restoration and maintenance. 



Results of the study show that 18 sites identified on isopach maps contain 

 an estimated 1,086 million cubic meters of sand. All but two sites constitute 

 linear and arcuate shoals that are Holocene features composed of clean, marine 

 quartz sand. The shoals are about 6.1 meters thick and appear to rest on a pre- 

 Holocene fluvial surface composed of dense silty sand and gravel. 



Six shoals (A,B,C,E,F, and J) and area 1 (Fig. 4) are closest to Cape May 

 beaches and contain about 216 million cubic meters of sand, making them the best 

 sites for future consideration. 



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