Contents p age 



Preface 1 



Abstract 3 



Chapter 1. Introduction to the Watershed-Bay Ecosystem 5 



1.1. Description 7 



1.2. History 11 



1.3. Present Day 13 



Chapter 2. Geology 17 



2.1. Formation '. 19 



2.2. A Marine Bay 22 



2.3. Sediments of Buzzards Bay 24 



Chapter 3. Physical Environment 27 



3.1. FreshWater: Rain, Surface, and Groundwater Flows 29 



3.2. Salinity, Temperature, and Density 31 



3.3. Circulation/Currents and the Tidal and Wind Regime 33 



Chapter 4. Buzzards Bay Natural Resources 39 



4.1. Open Water and Embayments 41 



4.1.1. Fauna 41 



4.1.2. Flora and Aquatic Primary Productivity 55 



4.2. Intertidal 59 



4.2.1. Salt Marshes 59 



4.2.2. Tidal Flats 66 



4.3. Terrestrial 67 



4.4. Unique and Threatened Environments 68 



4.4.1. Anadromous Fish Runs 68 



4.4.2. Endangered Species 70 



Chapter 5. Land Use, Economy, and Fisheries 77 



5.1. Land Use 79 



5.2. Economy 79 



5.2.1. Towns within the Watershed 79 



5.2.2. Economic Resources and Water Quality 82 



5.3. Fisheries 88 



Chapter 6. A Changing Buzzards Bay 95 



6.1. Human Impacts 97 



6.1.1. Cape Cod Canal 97 



6.1.2. Overfishing 98 



6.1.3. Bacterial Contamination 100 



6.1.4. Toxic Pollutants 100 



6.1.5. Nutrients and Cultural Eutrophication 104 



6.2. Natural Modification 109 



6.2.1. Relative Sea4evel Rise 109 



6.2.2. Storms 117 



Chapter 7. Management 121 



7.1. Toxic Pollutants 123 



7.2. Coliform Contamination and Shellfish Closures 124 



7.3. Nutrient Loading 126 



7.4. Relative Sea-level Rise 129 



Acknowledgments 130 



References 131 



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