Environmental geophysics, offshore Bush River Peninsula, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

Geophysical studies in shallow waters adjacent to the Bush River Peninsula, Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, have delineated the extent of waste disposal sites and established a hydrogeologic framework, which may control contaminant transport offshore. These studies indicate that during the Pleistocene Epoch, alternating stands of high and low sea levels resulted in a complex pattern of shallow channel-fill deposits around the Bush River Peninsula. Ground-penetrating radar studies reveal paleochannels greater than 50 ft deep. Some of the paleochannels are also imaged with marine seismic reflection. Conductivity highs measured with the EM-31 are also indicative of paleochannels. This paleochannel depositional system is environmentally significant because it may control the shallow groundwater flow regime beneath the peninsula. Magnetic, conductivity, and side-scan sonar anomalies outline anthropogenic anomalies in the study area. On the basis of geophysical data, underwater anthropogenic materials do exist in some isolated areas, but large-scale offshore dumping has not occurred in the area studied