@proceedings {292, title = {Foraminifera ecology on the continental shelf, Merrimack Embayment, Gulf of Maine, New England}, volume = {42}, year = {2010}, note = {Accession Number: 2010-092674; Conference Name: Geological Society of America, Northeastern Section, 45th annual meeting Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section, 59th annual meeting; Baltimore, MD, United States; Conference Date: 20100314; Language: English; Coordinates: N423000N430000W0703000W0705000; Coden: GAAPBC; Collation: 1; Collation: 82; Publication Types: Abstract Only; Serial; Conference document; Updated Code: 201049; Monograph Title: Geological Society of America, Northeastern Section, 45th annual meeting; Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section, 59th annual meeting; joint meeting, abstracts volume; Monograph Author(s): Anonymous; Reviewed Item: Analytic}, month = {2010/03/01/}, pages = {82 - 82}, publisher = {Geological Society of America (GSA) : Boulder, CO, United States}, address = {United States}, abstract = {During the late Pleistocene the Merrimack River paleodelta formed as post-glacial rebound produced a local low stand in sea level. Drowned as sea level rose, the paleodelta is now being reworked by a variety of processes. This study uses benthic foraminifera as a biotic and environmental proxy to study the sand and gravel resources of the paleodelta. Nineteen sediment samples were collected from the paleodelta along two east-west transects east of the Merrimack River. From these samples nearly 6000 benthic foraminifera, representing 62 species, were collected and identified. Although dissolution compromised the preservation of calcite tests within six samples, the resulting data is robust and allows for numerous conclusions to be drawn. Specifically, benthic foraminifera become more common distally and specific species inhabit specific areas of the paleodelta. Distribution patterns of some species have changed significantly since the late 1940s, with some species migrating landward, others, seaward. Distributions of some taxa differ significantly between the two transects, both in the present day and from the past. These differences may point to the influence of, and changes in, the Merrimack River outflow upon water column nutrient delivery, productivity and food availability over the past 60 years. Species diversity and evenness peak at the delta break, coincident with low species dominance at 50 meters water depth. Q-mode cluster analyses show three distinct assemblages, "shallow" (< or =30 meters water depth), "deep" (> or =40 meters), and "delta edge" (50 meters). There is no apparent correlation between foraminiferal distributions and deltaic bedforms, and in turn, sediment type. This implies that foraminiferal distributions are controlled by other environmental variables such as food. In summary, benthic foraminiferal assemblage analyses complement geophysical techniques. Benthic foraminifera can also help assess the marine impact of, e.g., mining sediment resources, watershed development, pollution, rising sea level, and increased fishing.}, keywords = {$\#$StaffPubs, applications, Atlantic Ocean, benthic taxa, Cenozoic, cluster analysis, deltaic environment, Economic geology, geology of nonmetal deposits 28A, Foraminifera, gravel deposits, Gulf of Maine, Invertebrata, Maine, marine environment, marine sediments, massachusetts, Merrimack River valley, microfossils, mining, North Atlantic, paleoecology, paleogeography, Pleistocene, Protista, Quaternary, Quaternary geology 24, sand deposits, sea-level changes, sediments, shelf environment, species diversity, statistical analysis, United States, upper Pleistocene}, isbn = {00167592}, url = {https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2010NE/finalprogram/abstract_170108.htm}, author = {Steven A Nathan and Leckie, R. Mark and Stephen B Mabee} } @Map {253, title = {Progress map of the onshore-offshore surficial geologic map of the North Truro quadrangle, Barnstable County, Massachusetts}, publisher = {Massachusetts Geological Survey}, edition = {OFR13-01}, abstract = {Map undergoing editing and review. Please contact sbmabee@geo.umass.edu for a copy.}, keywords = {$\#$MGSPub, $\#$OnshoreOffshore, $\#$SurficialMaps, Cape Cod, dunes, glacial, offshore, onshore, onshore-offshore, Pleistocene, surficial, Truro}, author = {Borrelli, M. and Gontz, A.M. and Smith, T.L. and Wilson, J.R. and Shumchenia, E.J. and and G S Geise} } @techreport {367, title = {Geomorphology of New England}, number = {1208}, year = {1982}, month = {1982}, pages = {18}, institution = {U.S. Geological Survey}, address = {Reston, VA}, abstract = {

Widely scattered terrestrial deposits of Cretaceous or Tertiary age and extensive nearshore and fluvial Coastal Plain deposits now largely beneath the sea indicate that the New England region has been above sea level during and since the Late Cretaceous. Estimates of rates of erosion based on sediment load in rivers and on volume of sediments in the Coastal Plain suggest that if the New England highlands had not been uplifted in the Miocene, the area would now be largely a lowland. If the estimated rates of erosion and uplift are of the right order of magnitude, then it is extremely unlikely that any part of the present landscape dates back before Miocene time. The only exception would be lowlands eroded in the early Mesozoic, later buried beneath Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits, and exhumed by stream and glacial erosion during the later Cenozoic. Many of the rocks in the New England highlands are similar to those that underlie the Piedmont province in the central and southern Appalachians, where the relief over large areas is much less than in the highlands of New England. These comparisons suggest that the New England highlands have been upwarped in late Cenozoic time. The uplift took place in the Miocene and may have continued into the Quaternary. The New England landscape is primarily controlled by the underlying bedrock. Erosion and deposition during the Quaternary, related in large part to glaciation, have produced only minor changes in drainage and in topography. Shale and graywacke of Ordovician, Cambrian, and Proterozoic age forming the Taconic highlands, and akalic plutonic rocks of Mesozoic age are all highland makers. Sandstone and shale of Jurassic and Triassic age, similar rocks of Carboniferous age, and dolomite, limestone, and shale of Ordovician and Cambrian age commonly underlie lowlands. High-grade metapelites are more resistant than similar schists of low metamorphic grade and form the highest mountains in New England. Feldspathic rocks tend to form lowlands. Alkalic plutonic rocks of Mesozoic age underlie a large area in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and doubtless are a factor in their location and relief. Where the major streams flow across the regional structure of the bedrock, the location of the crossings probably is related to some other characteristic of the bedrock, such as joints or cross faults. The course of the Connecticut River is the result of the adjustment of the drainage to the bedrock geology during a long period of time. There is no ready explanation why many of the large rivers do not cross areas of calcalkalic plutonic rock, but rather take a longer course around such areas, which tend to include segments of the divide between the streams. The presence of coarse clastic materials in Miocene rocks of the emerged Coastal Plain of the Middle Atlantic States suggests uplift of the adjacent Piedmont and of the Adirondack Mountains at that time. The Miocene rocks of the submerged Coastal Plain in the Gulf of Maine and south of New England are fine grained and contain only small amounts of fluvial gravel. Perhaps the coarse clastic materials shed by the New England highlands in late Cenozoic time are buried by or incorporated in the Pleistocene glacial deposits.

}, keywords = {$\#$Bibliography, $\#$LegacyPublications, coastal plain, Cretaceous, Eocene, geomorphology, landscape, Miocene, New England, physiography, plateau, Pleistocene, provinces, river valleys, rivers, shallow bedrock, uplands}, url = {https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1208}, author = {C.S. Denny} }