Tony LaPierre

The Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia has been the site of extensive research into coastal and inner shelf processes and sedimentology. Work by Boyd and Bowen (1983) on modelling the coastal evolution of the Eastern Shore, based on present-day coastal processes, has provided a framework for understanding this transgressive marine environment. Follow-up studies include investigation of: (1) beach ridge development (Hoskin, 1983), sediment budgeting (Sonnichson, 1984), beach stability and sedimentology (Nair, unpublished data, 1984) and estuarine sedimentation (Honig, unpublished data, 1984). Hall (unpublished data, 1984) investigated surficial sediment distribution and seismic stratigraphy in the inner shelf. As a follow-up to work initiated by Hall (1984) this current study uses higher quality seismic and side scan data, along with surface grab sample collections by Hall, and BRUTIV imagery collected during this study, to establish more precisely the sedimentary environments on the inner continental shelf of Eastern Shore, Nova Scotia. The morphology, distribution, scale orientation and possible mechanisms responsible for the generation of coarse-grained megaripples are also addressed in this study.

All of these studies are intended to provide a better understanding of this environment so that facies modelling for the nearshore can be better constrained.

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Pages: 102
Supervisor: Ron Boyd