Buzzards Bay
The Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the US state of Massachusetts . It is about 45 kilometers long and twelve kilometers wide. It is a popular destination for fishermen , boat owners and tourists . The Cape Cod Canal has connected Buzzards Bay with Cape Cod Bay since 1914 . In 1987 Buzzards Bay was designated the Estuary of National Significance .
geography
It is surrounded by the Elizabeth Islands in the south with the island of Cuttyhunk as the farthest point, Cape Cod in the east and the south coast of Counties Bristol and Plymouth in Massachusetts in the northwest. To the southwest, the bay is connected to Block Island Sound and Long Island Sound . The town of New Bedford is a historically significant port on Buzzards Bay; it was the world's most important whaling port during the first half and the middle of the 19th century.
geology
Buzzards Bay was formed during the last part of the Pleistocene through the interplay of glacial and oceanic processes. 50,000 to 70,000 years ago the edges of the continental ice sheet that covered most of North America began to melt; Moraines mark the former extent of the disappearing ice. One such moraine formed Cape Cod, which forms most of the eastern coast of Buzzards Bay.
In addition to the moraines, the melting ice sheet produced sander , composed of intermingled sediments and ice that delimited the bay to the northwest and west. Melting ice blocks in the sand deposits formed distinctive, circular features called dead ponds . Numerous examples of dead ponds can be found on the northwestern Cape Cod Canal. Ultimately, the water from the melting ice raised the sea level from sixty to one hundred and twenty meters and filled the pre-existing sand channels. From the end of the last ice age fifteen thousand years ago to six thousand years ago, Buzzards Bay was still dry land.
Coordinates: 41 ° 34 ′ N , 70 ° 46 ′ W