Side-scan sonar mosaic of a sand Ridge field: southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

Side-scan sonar coverage of a 1.5 km by 1.5 km area of the inner shelf depicts the morphology of part of a submarine ridge field. The presence of megaripples indicates that ridge sediments are presently reworked by currents. Megaripples occur in the coarser sands of the north-facing ridge flanks. Distribution of megaripples and the ridge asymmetry support the hypothesis that sand ridges respond as large-scale bedforms to south-setting flows. Megaripple crests were observed to be aligned shore-parallel which indicates a pre-survey episode of shore-normal bedload transport.