Abstract: Photographic Mapping of Recent Coastal Marine Sedimentary Environments on Maine Coast

Barry S. Timson

Photographic interpretation of standard 1:20,000-scale, black and white aerial photographs, aided by limited field-site inspections, has been used to map the distribution of recent marine sedimentary environments along the Maine coast at a scale of 1:24,000. Approximately 60 separate environments have been delineated ranging from low-elevation supratidal to shallow subtidal to water depths of approximately 9 m. Bathymetric charts, topographic maps, and photographic tonal variations delineate subtidal environments such as coarse (sand), and fine-grained (mud) flats, eel-grass (Zostera marina) flats, seaweed communities, and subtidal channels.

The depositional sedimentary framework of the glaciated submergent Maine coast is relegated to a 3-km wide coastal strip. Distribution of depositional systems is dependent on location of fluvial sediment input, type and distribution of surficial glacial deposits, tidal range, and regional bedrock-structure trends.

The southwestern coast is dominated by coarse-grained, isolated-barrier estuarine systems separated by igneous pluton headlands. Wave reworking of glacial outwash deposits is the dominant process characterizing the coastal region. The central coast, with coastal river valleys separated by bedrock structure highs trending seaward, is a region of fine-grained estuarine or neutral embayment depositional systems. The eastern coast is typified by neutral embayment systems and isolated fan-delta deposits where the tidal range exceeds 4 m.

The completed mapping project provides a detailed physical resource base for future natural-resource inventories, monitoring human alteration of the natural environment, and planning resource-compatible development.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90968©1977 AAPG-SEPM Annual Convention and Exhibition, Washington, DC