Morphometric Analysis of Delmarva Bay Landforms.

Along the eastern coastal plain of the United States, Carolina Bays are unique ellipsoidal depressional landforms with a sandy rim, oriented in a NW to SE direction, and are theorized to have formed during the late Pleistocene as a result of wind and water action. A smaller but similar depressional feature known as Delmarva Bays, are distributed along  the Delmarva Peninsula.  The smaller Delmarva Bays are less clearly ellipsoidal and oriented, but retain a sandy rim, and may contain a silty, loess-derived basin fill.  Because the characterization of the geomorphology and soils of these systems are limited, the objective of this study was to determine typical morphological characteristics of Delmarva Bay landforms.  Using ArcGIS, LiDAR data, and aerial photography, these features were identified and counted. Multiple 1.875 minute quadrants were randomly selected (using a stratified scheme based on population density). Within each quadrant, all Delmarva Bays were outlined and multiple morphometric parameters were collected.  Summary data on the size, shape and relief for the population of Delmarva Bays was used in selecting representative sites that will be used for detailed examination of the soils and other wetland characteristics.