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Evidence for a Postglacial Low Relative Sea-Level Stand in the Drowned Delta of the Merrimack River, Western Gulf of Maine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

R. N. Oldale ,
L. E. Wommack  and
A. B. Whitney
R. N. Oldale
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 USA
L. E. Wommack
Affiliation:
61 Canner St., New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA
A. B. Whitney
Affiliation:
EG&G, 300 Bear Hill Rd., Waltham, Massachusetts 02254 USA
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Abstract

A submerged delta of the Merrimack River, located offshore between Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and the New Hampshire border, indicates a postglacial low relative see-level stand of about −47 m. The low stand is inferred to date to 10,500 yr B.P., but a lack of age control makes this assignment uncertain. A curve based on a late Wisconsinan, high relative sea-level stand of +32m at 13,000 yr B.P., a low stand of −47m at 10,500 yr B.P., and younger radiocarbon dates related to sea-level rise indicates an early postglacial crustal rise of at least 5 m per century.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , May 1983 , pp. 325 - 336
Copyright
University of Washington

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