Somes Sound : fjord or well-mixed estuary?
Pettigrew NR, Kistner DA, Barbin GP, Laursen AK, Townsend DW, Christensen J. 1997. Somes Sound : fjord or well-mixed estuary?. Northeastern Naturalist. 4(1):35-44
FIELD WORK: September 10, 1984. Measured salinity and temperature profiles in Somes Sound. Contains chart showing temperature, salinity, and density within the sound. 'Somes Sound has been described as the only example of a fjord on the east coast of the United States. On a small scale, and from a morphological point of view, the Sound has key features normally associated with fjords, including pronounced subaerial topographic relief, submarine sills, and the U-shaped cross-section typical of glacially-carved troughs. However, based on its salinity distribution, which is related to the mixing and circulation processes used to characterize estuarine types from an oceanographic point of view, Somes Sound is a vertically well-mixed estuary that does not exhibit the strong stratification typical of fjords. While its geomorphology is unique, the oceanographic processes operating in the embayment are essentially the same as those in other shallow Maine estuaries with low fresh water input. In these estuaries, as well as in Somes Sound, tidal mixing is dominant over freshwater inflow in determining the circulation and the vertical stratification of the water column.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/Somes Sound/ GIS-CATEGORY 2: Contains a map of CTD stations within the pond where sampling was conducted.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Pettigrew, Neal; Kistner, Dorothea; Barbin, Gayle; Laursen, Annette; Townsend, David; Christensen, John
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Estuaries, Mount Desert Island, Salinity, Somes Sound, Sound, stratification (water), Water Temperature