Morpho-sedimentary unit signatures associated with micro-estuaries in Barnegat Bay national estuary, New Jersey, the USA

Incorporation of the Barnegat Bay into the US National Estuary Program has triggered collection and collation of basic data sets appropriate to estuarine management. Gathering of water quality and quantity as well as basic geological data is adding to the knowledge of the complexity of the bay. An ongoing program of systematic sampling of bottom sediments in the large bay and intense sampling in the many micro-estuaries along the mainland margin is demonstrating the presence of localized mor-pho-sedimentological units related to the interaction of the fluvial, tidal, and wave processes active in the bay. Mean grain sizes and standard deviation measures assist in the development of signatures of bottom sediment types.