Tidal Freshwater Deltas


Blackwater NWR

Long Island Sound

Delta Restoration


Back to Research Topics

Dr. Pasternack's
Homepage



Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Research Overview

A study of the geomorphology of landforms in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was carried out from October 1997 to June 1998. Five distinct landforms were identified based on field surveys and the existing literature. These landforms are the "Neck/Swamp" Geomorphic Unit, the "Fluvial Banks" Geomorphic Unit, the "Reworked Remnants" Geomorphic Unit, the "Peat-Forming Marsh" Geomorphic Unit, and the "Tributary Channels" Geomorphic Unit. While the first three of these landforms have the Kent Island Formation as a common basal stratum, different combinations of estuarine, fluvial, and aeolian processes have generated significantly different Late Pleistocene and Holocene depositional histories. A description of each landform was provided in a consultant's report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servce along with an interpretation of the processes responsible for the development of the landforms and the system as a whole.



Overview page    Tidal Freshwater Deltas    Blackwater NWR

Long Island Sound    Delta Restoration