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Background

Description
This website is a pilot project designed to provide easily accessible, high-quality scientific data to the Rhode Island and Massachusetts coastal management communities.  It contains a small portion of the results obtained from three major research projects undertaken at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island between the years 1985-2003.  These projects documented the level of contaminants in coastal sediments, and provide a basis for assessing the relationship between landuse and the health of the coastal ecosystem.  Data included in this website have not been published previously, or are available only in gray literature which can be difficult to access for resource managers (Corbin, 1989, King, et al., 1995; Ford, 2003).

Geographic Location 
  • Narragansett Bay, including the Blackstone, Providence, and Taunton Rivers.
  • Rhode Island coastal lagoons: Winnapaug, Quonochontaug, and Ninigret Ponds.

Data Included
  • Concentrations of copper, lead and mercury  in  surface sediments
  • Sediment grain size
  • Concentration of carbon in surface sediments

Data Sources

All data was generated by the Paleomagnetics and Inorganic Geochemistry  Laboratory at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island.  (For detailed information on each project, click on the dataset links.)
Methods
A detailed description of the field and analytical methods is located in the technical info section of this website.

Funding Sources
This project was funded under the Partnership for Narragansett Bay Watershed Action Grant (BAYWAG) program.  Funding sources for the program include the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, the Massachusetts Watershed Initiative, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, by grants to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.  The contents do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the funding agencies, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.  For more information on BAYWAG grants, see www.nbep.org .

References
Corbin, J. M., 1989.  Recent and Historical Accumulation of Trace Metal Contaminants in Narragansett Bay Sediments, RI.  Unpublished Master of Science Thesis, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island. 295 pp.

Dean, W.E., 1974. Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 44: 242-248.

Ford, K.H., 2003.  The distribution and potential impact of inorganic and organic contaminants in coastal lagoons, Rhode Island.  Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis chapter, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island.  45 pp.

King, J., J. Corbin, R. McMaster, J. Quinn, P. Gangemi, D. Cullen, J. Latimer, J. Peck, C. Gibson, J. Boucher, S. Pratt, L. LeBlanc, J. Ellic, and M. Pilson, 1995.  A Study of the Sediments of Narragansett Bay, Volume 1: The Surface Sediments of Narragansett Bay.  Final Report Submitted to the Narragansett Bay Project. 201pp.

Long, E. R., D. D. Mcdonald, S. L. smith and H. D. Calder, 1995.  Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments.  Environmental Management, 19: 81-97.

Thompson, R. H., M. F. Hutchinson, and W. Dilibero, 2001 .  GIS Creates New Opportunities and Issues for coastal Communities .  Maritimes, v. 43:1, pp. 13-15.

University of Rhode Island Logo Environmental Protection Agency Logo Rhode Island Geographic Information System Logo Massachusetts Watershed Initiative Program Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission  Logo

For more information contact: (401) 874-6182

Page last modified June 6, 2003