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SEDIMENTS AND WATERS OF SOMES SOUND, A FJORDLIKE ESTUARY IN MAINE 1, 2
Author(s) -
Folger David W.,
Meade Robert H.,
Jones Blair F.,
Cory Robert L.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1972.17.3.0394
Subject(s) - sound (geography) , estuary , bottom water , geology , oceanography , sediment , silt , water column , sill , river mouth , waves and shallow water , hydrology (agriculture) , geochemistry , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering
Bottom sediments in the Somes Sound estuary coarsen progressively seaward from clay in the upper and middle parts through silt and sand to gravel at the mouth. Most contain <5% CaCO 3 except in the lower sound where shell fragments are abundant and concentrations reach 20%. Organic carbon is most abundant (3–5%) in the clay of the upper sound, which smells strongly of II 2 S. Epifauna, especially holothurians, cover most of the bottom near the mouth of the sound. Infauna predominate in the fine sediments of the middle and upper sound but are absent where II 2 S is high. Waters in the sound during August 1969 were well mixed and well oxygenated (6.7– 4.7 ml/liter) from surface to bottom, despite the shallow sill that restricts water circulation at the narrow mouth. Anaerobic bottom waters were not observed. The movement of a bottom drifter suggests that the net direction of flow of bottom water is landward, and the distributions of some sediment components that bottom‐water flow is counterclockwise. Particulate matter suspended in the water ranged from 0.6–4.1 mg/liter, with greatest concentrations in bottom waters above areas covered with fine‐grained sediments.