2 Study Area and Physical
Setting
This chapter describes the study area, the physical setting of Mattituck Inlet and
Goldsmith Inlet, and the regional setting of the north shore of Long Island, the Long
Island Sound. The configuration of Long Island Sound exerts significant control on the
tide, waves, and current that act upon the two inlets. Aspects of the geomorphology of
the north shore of Long Island are also reviewed as they pertain to the sediment source
for these inlets. Discussion of the history and setting of each inlet follows to understand
the regional, economic, and environmental significance of the inlets.
Regional Setting Long Island Sound
Mattituck Inlet and Goldsmith Inlet connect to the Long Island Sound, a
semienclosed water body open to the Atlantic Ocean at both ends (Figure 2-1). Long
Island Sound is approximately 110 miles long and 20 miles wide at its center. It narrows
to about 10 miles at its eastern extreme, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean through Block
Island Sound, and to less than 1 mile at its western extreme where it meets the East River,
New York Harbor, and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. Long Island Sound has a surface
area of 1,268 square miles (Koppelman et al. 1976) and is oriented along a southwest-
northeast axis, as is the depression that runs along its center. The depth of Long Island
Sound along this depression is 110-130 ft, and the mean depth of the sound is 60 ft. The
maximum depth of near 300 ft is found in an area known as The Race, a constricted
channel that connects Long Island Sound to Block Island Sound.
Geomorphic environment
Long Island Sound lies on the northern edge of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and is one
of several basins that occupy the New England part of the Atlantic Coastal Plains
province. Long Island Sound can be characterized as five separate basins separated by
shoals of varying relief. Mattituck Inlet and Goldsmith Inlet connect to the sound in an
area bounded by the New Haven shoal and Six Mile Reef (Williams 1981). The southern
boundary of Long Island Sound, the north shore of Long Island is classified as a glacial
deposition coast (Shepard 1963) and is composed primarily of glacial till deposits. These
deposits originated from a group of terminal moraines created by the continental glaciers
that advanced upon the area during the Wisconsin stage of the Pleistocene Epoch, 70,000
to 10,000 years ago.
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Chapter 2 Study Area and Physical Setting
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