La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	A variable turbidity maximum in the Kennebec estuary, Maine
Auteurs :	D. A. Kistner, Auteur ; N. R. Pettigrew, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Estuaries (24(5) OCT 2001)
Article en page(s) :	680-687
Résumé :	A turbidity maximum has been observed in the Kennebec estuary during moderate and low flow conditions near the upstream limit of salinity intrusion. Hydrographic, ADCP, and transmissometer data were collected at different river flow levels and seasons during 1995-1998. The location of the tip of the salt intrusion changes dramatically and during high runoff may be flushed from the channel of the estuary along with the accumulated particles in the turbidity maximum. It is hypothesized that the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) was absent 18% of the time with occurrences in all seasons during 1993-1999 based on river flow volumes from the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers throughout the study period. When the flow is moderate and low, which occurred 73% of the time on average, a region of high turbidity can be found as far as 40 km upstream of the month. Suspended particulate loads are low in the ETM, on the order of tens of mg l(-1) and may vary with the length of time that the ETM has been present.

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