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[Theresa Tripp]

Hi All,
just want to share with you some new data we collected last week off of the Snohomish Delta and inquire if any students are interested in (1) participating in upcoming nearshore coastal mapping and sampling surveys with my team, and/or (2) working on these types of data and the derivative products we generate with them, largely GIS mapping/modeling projects? If so please let me know.

Below are preliminary bathymetry results relative to existing data from the 1990s/1960s that show progradation along the entire outer delta and between 10 and 15 m of accumulation along the delta front, both higher in the north. These agree with our recent results from Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, Nisqually and Skokomish deltas, that significant progradation since the 1880s and ongoing export of sediment appear to be significantly higher than before logging and large-scale river-delta channelization increased and focused sediment loads through levees to the nearshore. The progradation is a little less extensive in Snohomish than say Nooksack and Skagit probably because the hydrodynamics offshore are more complex off of Everett and sediment is spread over a larger area. These results are integrated with our USGS Interdisciplinary Coastal Habitat in Puget Sound Project biological and ecological studies to inform (1) the extent that this nearshore sediment disturbance impacts essential salmon habitat, foodwebs, and salmon recovery goals, and (2) the extent that floodplain/estuary restoration and impending coastal hazard mitigation would benefit and perform by restoring sediment transport processes and deposition across floodplains and emergent deltas (like it used to) where they could maintain land surface elevations, wetland accretion, estuarine channels, and reduce floods and drainage problems that are now increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise and climate change.

Anyone interested, please let me know or swing by ES121, ext4697.
Cheers, Eric

Eric E. Grossman, PhD
Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey USGS Western Fisheries Research Center, 6505 NE 65th St., Seattle, WA 98115; 206-526-6282x334<tel:206-526-6282x334> (office), 831-234-4674<tel:831-234-4674> (cell)
email: egrossman at usgs.gov<mailto:egrossman at usgs.gov>

Affiliate Researcher, Western Washington University Dept. of Geology, 516 High St., MS 9080 Bellingham, WA, 98225; 360-650-4697<tel:831-234-4674> (office)
email: Eric.Grossman at wwu.edu<mailto:egrossman at usgs.gov>
http://puget.usgs.gov/
http://coralreefs.wr.usgs.gov/
http://www.usgs.gov/coastsalish