Reports
Report on the Chesapeake Bay Earth Science Study
1977, Kerhin, R.T., Bricker, O.P., and Cleaves, E.T.
Open File Report 1
Introduction
The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries constitute the major estuarine system of the United States. This system represents a unique feature of the earth's surface. Historically, it has had major cultural and economic impacts on the entire eastern seaboard and, in particular, Maryland and Virginia. These impacts are continuing through the present day, as the Bay plays an increasingly important role. The Chesapeake Bay is one of Maryland's most valuable natural and economic resources. It serves as a vital link in the nation's transportation system, supports a major seafood industry, serves as a hatchery and nursery ground for many marine organisms, a habitat for waterfowl and provides a recreational outlet for a large portion of the mid-Atlantic population. In addition, the Bay and its tributaries are used for municipal waste disposal, a source of water for industry, a site for industrial waste disposal and a heat exchanger for power generating plants. Many of these uses are in conflict and some threaten the environmental health of the Bay. The continuing escalation of population density in the Bay area, together with increasing number, size and complexity of industrial and public utility operations, is placing ever-expanding demands on an environmental resource of finite capacity.
In recent years, it has become obvious that many of the demands are beginning to exceed the capacity of the resource, leading to deterioration of the quality of this unique environment. Decisions about various usages of the Bay will have to be made on the basis of weighing the benefits derived by permitting an activity against the detrimental effects that it will have on the environmento We have reached the time when it is no longer possible to maintain the Bay as a pristine environment. The kinds of questions that must now be answered are: "How much degradation of the environment are we willing to tolerate?" and "What actions must be taken to insure that deterioration does not proceed beyond those limits?"
The Chesapeake Bay Earth Science Study (CBESS) is designed to provide earth-science information about the Bay. Data will be gathered concerning the distribution and the physical properties of the surface and subsurface sediments, the stratigraphy of subsurface lithofacies, the paleodrainage patterns, the changes in shoreline morphology and the erosional and depositional patterns. From these data, estimates of the volume of Holocene sediment in the Bay can be made, the relative importance of sediment source areas determined, sites of erosion and deposition delineated and patterns of sediment movement identified. Equally important to the environmental quality of the Chesapeake Bay estuary is an understanding of the mineralogy and chemistry of the sediment and how this sediment interacts with the aqueous medium in which it resides. A knowledge of the mineralogical and chemical behavior of the system is fundamental to making intelligent decisions concerning necessary activities such as dredging and dredge spoil disposal, discharge of water from cooling systems of power generating plants and the disposition of industrial wastes and effluent from sewage treatment plants. The physical and chemical components of the Bay bottom affect the benthic biota, and the benthic organisms in turn, have an important modifying role in the characteristics of the sediments; thus, understanding the interrelationships between the biota and the sediment characteristics is essential.
The Chesapeake Bay Earth Science Study is a project in the Coastal and Estuarine Geology Program of the Maryland Geological Survey. Funds and supportive services for the study come from three agencies of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources: the Maryland Geological Survey, Energy and Coastal Zone Administration and Capital Programs Administration. Additional funding has been provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
