A Submerged Holocene Shoreline near Block Island, Rhode Island

Sidescan-sonar imagery, multibeam bathymetry, and surficial geologic interpretations of the sea floor in Rhode Island Sound, off Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island

“…The paleoshorelines in Long Island Sound mark shorelines at depths including 25-27 m, thought to have formed 8.5-9 ka, 30 m, and 37-38 m, thought to have formed 10-10.5 ka (Gayes and Bokuniewicz, 1991). South of our study area, on the continental shelf, Garrison and McMaster (1966) found wave cut terraces with scarps and a ridge and depression topography interpreted to be barrier beaches and lagoons that occur at depths including 24 m. Because of their similar depth, we believe that the terraces near Block Island described by McMaster and Garrison (1967) and those on the continental shelf described by Garrison and McMaster (1966) are coeval with the paleoshoreline features at 24-27 m within the study area.…”

“…Depositional paleoshoreline features have been found in other areas near RIS. Profiles of a paleoshoreline located about 24 m below present sea level near Block Island, thought to be from 8.3-9 ka, consist of barrier spit, lagoon, and headland features as well as terraces (McMaster and Garrison, 1967). These features are similar to, although larger than the profiles of the hills and scarps in RIS.…”

Conference on Continental margin mass wasting and Pleistocene sea-level changes, August 13-15, 1980

“…Several low escarpments on the Continental Shelf near Hudson Canyon were identified by Veatch and Smith (1939) and named the Nicholls, Franklin, and Fortune shores. These features were subsequently observed and extended by several authors (Ewing and others, 1960;Donn and others, 1962), and a fourth shore, the Block Island shore, was identified by McMaster and Garrison (1967) on the inner shelf off Rhode Island. Emery and Uchupi (1972, fig.…”

Preliminary Starch Grain Evidence of Ancient Stone Tool Use at the Early Archaic (9,000 B.P.) Site of Sandy Hill, Mashantucket, Connecticut

“…For example, the Long Island Sound basin, located approximately 10 kilometers south of Sandy Hill, hosted a relatively stable and potentially rich estuarine body during the 9 th millennium B.P. (Lewis 1995;McMaster and Garrison 1967). Though sea level rise has deeply submerged this ancient environment, future starch grain analysis at Sandy Hill may help confirm its exploitation.…”