Recent coastal submergence of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 676-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
High Tide ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tidal Range ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Maritime Provinces

Hydrographic, archeologic, and geologic evidence indicates that for the last 4000 y the Maritime Provinces have been submerging three to five times faster than the 6 cm/century rate of eustatic rise of sea level. After correcting for the eustatic change, the Bay of Fundy shows an anomalous submergence of 24 cm/century, of which at least 15 cm/century is probably due mainly to rise of high tide, or increase of tidal range, beginning 4000–6000 y ago as eustatic sea-level rise widened and deepened the entrance to the Gulf of Maine. Submergence of the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, on the other hand, exceeds the eustatic rate by 9 cm/century, which can be largely explained by new mathematical models as isostatic subsidence of the earth's crust as the sea deepened eustatically over the continental shelf. Only a small part of the residual anomalies of 9 cm and 4 cm/century for the Fundy and Atlantic coasts, respectively, can be attributed to a combination of additional subsidence due to geosynclinal downwarping and relaxation of a possible glacier-margin peripheral bulge, thereby implicating other modes of regional crustal lowering.

Bottom Residual Drift on the Continental Shelf Area of the Canadian Atlantic Coast

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1845-1859 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Lauzier
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Shelf Area ◽  
Residual Drift ◽  
Sea Bed ◽  
Continental Shelf Area ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

From 1961 to 1965, 14,137 sea-bed drifters were released over the Continental Shelf from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Maine–Bay of Fundy to investigate the residual drift along the bottom. A total of 2772 drifters were recovered either from the sea floor or along the shores. The recovery pattern, in time and in space, is studied for various portions of the Shelf.The inferred residual bottom drift is shown in a series of three charts. The estimated rate of drift lies between 0.2 and 0.7 nautical mile/day. The continuity of bottom drift over large areas is indicated. The relationship of surface to bottom drift is studied. Areas of convergence and upwelling are emphasized. No seasonal variations in the direction of bottom drift and in the speed have as yet been detected.

Holocene sea levels, paleoceanography, and late glacial ice configuration near the Northumberland Strait, Maritime Provinces

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 668-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Scott ◽  
Franco S. Medioli ◽  
Ann A. L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Present Rate ◽  
Nova Scotian

Work on new cores from old core sites in Baie Verte, New Brunswick, led to the identification of submerged salt-marsh peats, reported earlier as freshwater ones. A comprehensive sea-level curve, between 9 and 15 m below present, is based on marsh foraminiferal assemblages. These data indicate that between 4500 and 5400 BP relative sea-level (RSL) rise was comparatively slow (about 10 cm/100 years); the rate increased dramatically between 4500 and 4000 BP (1 m/100 years) and decreased between 2000 and 4000 BP to its present rate of 15 cm/100 years. We suggest RSL was falling before 5400 BP and that the sequence in our deepest core is similar to some observed in the Bay of Fundy and Nova Scotian Atlantic coast where early RSL fall is documented. To account for this sea-level record and others nearby we suggest that the ice history here is complex, with three separate ice caps thinning towards this area in late glacial times.Earlier work also indicated a number of sediment sequences barren of benthonic foraminifera, suggesting a complex marine–freshwater history for the area. The study of new cores containing the same sequences indicates no barren zones but a simple transgressive sequence with a warm-water calcareous fauna followed by an agglutinated transitional estuarine foraminiferal fauna.

Tidal Resonance and Tidal Barriers in the Bay of Fundy System

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 1701-1728 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. D. Duff
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Resonant Mode ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Harmonic Model ◽  
Double Barrier ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Tidal Regime ◽  
Resonant Region

A near-resonant mode of oscillation extending to the continental shelf in the Gulf of Maine is shown to be a contributing factor in the extreme high M2 tidal ranges in the Bay of Fundy.The effect on the M2 tidal regime of a double barrier at Cape Chignecto is studied by two methods. A one-dimensional simple harmonic model shows the effect of placing the matching boundary at any intermediate position and defines a probable zone of values for the barrier amplitude. A two-dimensional calculation covering the entire resonant region gives an estimated amplitude reduction of 34% at the Cape Chignecto barrier site.

scholarly journals Observation of a Fast Continental Shelf Wave Generated by a Storm Impacting Newfoundland Using Wavelet and Cross-Wavelet Analyses

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Severin Thiebaut ◽  
Ross Vennell
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Passage Time ◽  
Period Range ◽  
Shelf Wave ◽  
Cross Wavelet

Abstract Wavelet and cross-wavelet power spectra of sea level records from tide gauges along the Atlantic coast of Canada showed a low-frequency barotropic response after Hurricane Florence crossed the Newfoundland shelf in September 2006. In comparison with two other storms, the results showed that Florence was the only one that excited a propagating sea level disturbance with a period range similar to the passage time of the storm over the shelf (26–30 h) and phase shifts consistent with a barotropic continental shelf wave (CSW). The high amplitude of the oscillations generated by Florence along the shore diminished from approximately 45 to 12 cm as the CSW propagated from the south coast of Newfoundland to the southern Nova Scotia seaboard. This paper presents the first direct measurement of a remarkably high alongshore group speed (11.4 ± 5.9 m s−1), in the manner of free-barotropic CSW, by examination of sea level wavelet power spectra at different locations. Furthermore, using cross-wavelet analysis of pairs of stations, an exceptional phase speed of 16.0 ± 5.1 m s−1 has been found, greater than had been previously observed for a free CSW. The results were consistent with dispersion curves for the first-mode barotropic CSW.

scholarly journals Submarine glacial landforms on the Bay of Fundy–northern Gulf of Maine continental shelf

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Todd ◽  
J. Shaw ◽  
P. C. Valentine
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Glacial Landforms

Glacial geology of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Legget
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
High Tide ◽  
Rock Surface ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Glacial Geology ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
Carbon 14 ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
Tide Level ◽  
Abundant Evidence

Grand Manan is the largest of an archipelago of 20 islands at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Twenty-four kilometres long and 11 km wide, its western part consists of Triassic basalt with cliffs up to 120 m high. The eastern section consists of older rocks, is low lying, and is the site of the main settlements. Early scientific visitors thought that the island had escaped glaciation but there is abundant evidence to show that it did not, although the age of the last glaciation has not yet been established. Outwash and raised beach deposits are found throughout the island. Glacial striae show directions of ice movement ranging over 120°. Examples of multidirectional striae on the same rock surface have been observed. Isolated glacial erratics, some from the New Brunswick mainland, are found in the eastern part of the island, with one unusual assemblage on the south coast. A few exposures of till are described, one exhibiting two superposed tills of differing lithology, as known elsewhere in the Maritime Provinces. Carbon-14 dating of organic matter exposed at about half tide level and about 4 m above high tide level appears to agree with estimates of the changes of sea level during the last 16 000 years for other parts of the Maritime Provinces.

THE MARINE ALGAE OF THE MARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA: I. List of Species with their Distribution and Prevalence

1933 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh P. Bell ◽  
Constance MacFarlane
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Marine Algae ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Ecological Regions ◽  
Marine Flora

The marine algae of the Atlantic coast of the maritime provinces of Canada were collected at representative places all along the coast. The most intensive collecting was done at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and at Halifax, Nova Scotia. An entire summer was spent collecting around Prince Edward Island. The report covers the work of more than seven years. The collecting was done chiefly during the summer, but regular collecting was also carried out for two winters. The area is divided into three distinct geographical and ecological regions, namely, the Bay of Fundy, the Atlantic, and the Prince Edward Island regions. In the list of species, their regional distribution and prevalence are given in tabular form. The list includes 120 species, divided into 30 Chlorophyceae, 41 Phaeophyceae, and 49 Rhodophyceae. In addition to critical notes regarding certain forms, the striking differences in the marine flora from region to region are indicated diagramatically by distribution maps for a number of species.

scholarly journals Pollock (Pollachius virens) stock structure in the Canadian Maritimes inferred from mark-recapture studies

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 749-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Neilson ◽  
Wayne T. Stobo ◽  
Peter Perley
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Management Unit ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Stock Structure ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
Novel Method

Abstract The current management unit for pollock on the Canadian Atlantic coast is large compared with other gadoid resources, and includes the Scotian Shelf, the Bay of Fundy, and the Canadian portion of Georges Bank. Based on an analysis of mark-recapture studies conducted in the Canadian Maritimes and off southwestern Newfoundland and a review of other published studies providing data relevant to stock identification, the stock structure of pollock in Canadian Atlantic waters was re-assessed. The analysis also includes a novel method for using the spatial distribution of standardized fishing effort to predict the distribution of tag returns. It is concluded that three stocks co-occur within the current management unit. The larger population components exist in the western Scotian Shelf (including the eastern Bay of Fundy) and on the eastern Scotian Shelf. There is a coastal population in the western Gulf of Maine that overlaps into Canadian waters, but its size is likely to be relatively small. There is a need to revise the current management unit boundaries to protect the eastern Scotian Shelf stock, which on the basis of growth rate data, appears to be the least productive component of the pollock resource in Canadian Atlantic waters.

TRIGLOCHIN GASPENSE, A NEW SPECIES OF ARROW GRASS

1961 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1261-1272 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Löve ◽  
H. Lieth
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
High Water ◽  
The Other ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
Tidal Zone ◽  
Well Differentiated ◽  
Triglochin Maritimum ◽  
A New Species

A new species, Triglochin gaspense Lieth & D. Löve, is described from a salt marsh between Barachois-Ouest and Coin-du-Banc, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, Canada. It is distributed in Quebec, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and Newfoundland, as well as in at least the northern part of the state of Maine, U.S.A. It is well differentiated from the other American species of the Triglochin maritimum complex, to which it belongs, morphologically (5–20 cm tall, leaves overtopping the short, few-flowered spike), cytologically (2n = 96 chromosomes), and ecologically (confined to the tidal zone of the Atlantic coast below the high-water mark). The type specimen of the new species is preserved in the Marie-Victorin Herbarium, Université de Montréal.

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