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Fisherman Bay

USGS Topo Sheet: Shaw Island

Geographic coordinates: 48°30.48' N, 122°55.87' W

Paleoseismic record: Insufficient fieldwork has been completed to evaluate the paleoseismic potential of this site.

Setting: Fisherman Bay is about 0.8 km wide and 3 km long with fringing Salicornia-dominated marshes up to 100 m wide along parts of its southwest and northern shores. Most of the marshes are relatively undisturbed by development. These marshes were mentioned, but not specifically discussed, by Rigg (1958, p. 161).

Stratigraphic description: No outcrops or cores have been examined. Rigg (1958, p. 162) noted that none of the 35 salt marshes he visited in the San Juan Islands contained peat deposits >1 m thick.

Paleontology/Paleoecology: No paleontologic work has been completed.

Geologic interpretation: Although peaty sediment beneath the marshes around the bay is probably thin (<0.5 m thick), some marshes are wide enough to hold some potential for thicker sequences that might be capable of preserving a record of prehistoric coseismic land-level changes, tsunamis, or storms.

Date of last work at site: September 1997

Status of work: No additional work is planned.

Published information on this site: None

Investigators: A. Nelson, H. Kelsey

Please use the following format in citing information from this page:

Nelson, A.R., Kelsey, H.M., Fisherman Bay, in Bucknam, R.C., compiler, 1999, Atlas of reconnaissance data from paleoseismic studies in the Puget Sound region, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Web Page, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/pacnw/paleo/atlas.html.

This URL is: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/pacnw/paleo/reports/fisherba.htm
Modified July 29, 2002 by Susan Rhea