Why are we in Woods Hole, Massachusetts?

The goal of the Coastal and Marine Geology Program is to describe the geology of coastal and marine systems. To carry out this mission, the team is located in Woods Hole with the internationally recognized Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a part of the Woods Hole Research community for more than 35 years.

Our History in Woods Hole, MA

The following is taken from Emery, K.O.,and Schlee, J.S., 1968, The Atlantic continental shelf and slope, a program of study: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 481 ONLINE, 16 p.:

   "In 1962, the Congress authorized a program in marine geology by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Survey in turn entered into an agreement with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a five-year joint investigation of the Continental Shelf and slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States. The Survey provides the financial support for the work, and scientists from both organizations are engaged in the study. The interests and abilities of the two organizations complement each other in this study. Several other organizations are also cooperating in certain aspects of the work; chief among these are the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which is processing the benthic biological samples, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, which is supplying smooth sheets of soundings taken by its many ships in the past, and during the course of the investigation. Still other organizations, mostly universities, are involved through their interests in special problems in such fields as taxonomy, chemistry, and oceanographic training."

Dr Kenneth O. Emery (left), in charge of the joint WHOI-USGS project, confers with Dr. Robert H. Meade, USGS (center), and Dr. John S. Schlee, USGS (right).

John C. Hathaway displays some of the mineral and rock samples he has cataloged and filed in his laboratory.

Dr. Elazar Uchupi locates the Hatteras Canyon on the new map of the Atlantic continental slope.

The research vessel Gosnold was used by USGS scientists to conduct their studies.