Abstract: Origin and Distribution of Suspended Sediments in Bay of Fundy, Canada
James A. Miller
The Bay of Fundy lies between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the Atlantic coast of Canada. The bay is trough-shaped and deepens seaward, with the head of the bay splitting into two smaller embayments known as Chignecto Bay and the Minas Basin.
The coastal erosion rate in Chignecto Bay and the Minas Basin is more than 1.8 m/year, and is the major source for the detrital-suspended sediments. Suspended sediment concentrations range from 0.2 to 30.4 mg/l. Suspended sediment concentration increases from the mouth to the head of the bay, from the Nova Scotia to the New Brunswick side of the bay, and generally with increasing depth in the water column.
Highly turbid water from Chignecto Bay and Minas Basin mixes with the less turbid water in the main bay, and gradually is moved along the New Brunswick shore toward the mouth of Fundy. However, a certain percentage of the suspended sediment load is deposited permanently in the Minas Basin, Chignecto Bay, and along the New Brunswick side of the main bay. Shallow-seismic work has shown that more than 40 m of post-Pleistocene sediment is present in parts of Chignecto Bay and along much of the New Brunswick side of the main bay. Similar thicknesses of post-Pleistocene sediments also are present at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy and in parts of the Gulf of Maine.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90972©1976 AAPG-SEPM Annual Convention and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA