Christopher R. Sherwood

Long Range Goals

My education is in geological oceanography, and most of my experience is in modeling and making field measurements of suspended-sediment transport. My main research goal is to improve numerical models of sediment and contaminant transport by critically comparing them against careful field measurements.

Community Coastal Sediment-Transport Model

The USGS is promoting a program to improve prediction of the transport, transformation, and fate of sediment and particle-bound nutrients and contaminants. Goals are to produce advanced numerical models and model infrastructure for coastal sediment transport that are scientifically sound, expertly coded, well tested, and suitable for use in both research and practical applications.

EuroSTRATAFORM

We deployed several instruments in the Adriatic Sea in November as part of the PASTA (Po and Apennine Sediment Transport and Accumulation) study. PASTA is one component of the Office of Naval Research's EuroSTRATAFORM program, which is using selected areas of the European continental margin to explore the fate of sediment particles from their source in rivers to their deposition on shallow deltas, on the continental shelf, and in deep-sea basins

Palos Verdes Shelf

Contamination of sediments on the PV shelf, in Santa Monica Bay, and off Huntington Beach is being investigated as part of a long-term USGS program in Southern California. My research has focused on sedimentary processes responsible for the evolution of the effluent-affected sediments on the PV shelf.

Southwest Washington Coastal Erosion Study

The Southwest Washington Coastal Erosion Study is a partnership between local communities, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the USGS to investigate causes of coastal erosion in the Columbia River littoral cell. I have been involved in collecting and analysing sediment-transport measurements off Grays Harbor, WA.