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Into the Deep: Mapping the BayContributor: John King, GSO As a complement to MapCoast's focus on soils in coastal lands and in shallower waters, the main focus of BayMap is on sediment in deeper waters. The BayMap project will produce a comprehensive series of high-resolution seafloor maps for coastal environments deeper than 5 m (16.5 feet). Those maps will describe the geology, habitats, biological communities, and archaeology of the deeper areas of Narragansett Bay and the south shore. BayMap uses sophisticated imaging technologies to map the seafloor and the organisms that live there. This information will be assembled into an inventory of sediment types, habitats, biological communities, and underwater archaeological sites in a readily accessible GIS format. An interdisciplinary team of geologists, biologists, archaeologists, and GIS experts from URI are collaborating on the BayMap study, which receives funding from Rhode Island Sea Grant. BayMap is designed to provide much-needed insights into the factors that control the presence/absence and abundance of bottom-dwelling plants and animals. When the waters of our marine environment are healthy, these organisms thrive and are the basis for Narragansett Bay's rich ecosystem. However, they are the first organisms to show signs of stress when the water becomes polluted. When these bottom-dwelling communities are diminished or fail entirely, the entire Bay environment is impacted. For example, if blue mussel communities are killed by low oxygen events, then they no longer filter particles from large volumes of water, and coastal waters become more turbid and less hospitable to eelgrass communities that require penetration of sunlight to thrive. |
Rhode
Island Sea Grant |
Coastal Institute |