APPLICATION OF HYDROACOUSTIC AND MARINE GEOPHYSICAL METHODS FOR MAPPING THE DISTRIBUTION OF NEARSHORE SEDIMENTS ALONG THE SHORELINE FROM MENTOR HARBOR TO ASHTABULA HARBOR IN THE LAKE ERIE CENTRAL BASIN, LAKE AND ASHTABULA COUNTIES, OHIO, USA

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey (Survey) is actively mapping segments of Ohio’s portion of the Lake Erie coastline utilizing high-resolution side-scan sonar, bathymetric, and subbottom profiler technology. During the summers of 2022–2024, the Survey collected hydroacoustic data from Mentor Harbor in Lake County to Ashtabula Harbor in Ashtabula County to improve the understanding of how sediments are distributed on the nearshore areas of the lakebed and how those sediments are transported over time. The data collected during these mapping efforts provides highly accurate information, all of which have real-time kinematic and sound velocity corrections. Previous mapping efforts for this stretch of shoreline relied on antiquated geophysical equipment and utilized interpretations from data collected more than twenty years ago by other scientists. Preliminary results of this study indicate that the distribution of sediments has changed significantly during the past 20+ years when compared with distribution described in earlier mapping efforts.