A Real-Time Coastal Monitoring and Forecasting System: Preliminary Results
Michael S. Bruno, Okey George Nwogu, Kelly L. Rankin, Thomas O. Herrington · 2001
The Atlantic Ocean shoreline of New Jersey is bordered by Long Island, NY, to the north and the Delaware Bay to the south. The coastline is generally oriented north to south for 80 km from Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet and northeast to southwest for 120 km from Barnegat Inlet to Cape May. The northernmost portion of the shoreline is characterized as a coastal headland, and the central and southern portions are composed of barrier islands. A total of 11 tidal inlets line the ocean shoreline of the state. The nearshore area within 5 km of the coast contains numerous shoals and sand waves. As shown in Figure 1, the southern portion of the coastline is characterized by a broad shallow nearshore area as compared to the more steeply-sloped nearshore in the north. The region also contains the Hudson Canyon, which extends southeastward from the entrance of New York Harbor to the edge of the continental shelf. The Hudson Canyon is as much as 30 m deeper than the surrounding ocean bottom at the western end, and reaches depths of nearly 1000 m near the eastern edge.