ABSTRACT

A procedure that allows 50-100 samples to be processed per day has been used successfully in mapping areal variations in organic matter, shell content, minimum size, maximum size, modal size, dominant sizes, and gross lithology of the modern nearshore sediments near Morehead City, North Carolina.

Color values are estimated and used as semi-quantitative measures of organic matter. The shell content is estimated by comparison with a frequency estimation chart.

The size properties of the non-shell material are determined by binocular microscope examination of small samples placed on a size comparison slide and in a dispersing solution in a glass caster. This size information is summarized by symbols which are plotted at the sample locations and are used to outline the natural sediment groupings. This procedure, although rapid and only semi-quantitative, provides for finer subdivisions of sand areas than with groupings based on sand-silt-clay ratios.