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USGS2002

Environmental Database For Water-Quality Data for the Penobscot River, Maine: Design Documentation and User Guide

An environmental database was developed to store water-quality data collected during the 1999 U.S. Geological Survey investigation of the occurrence and distribution of dioxins, furans, and PCBs in the riverbed sediment and fish tissue in the Penobscot River in Maine. The database can be used to store a wide range of detailed information and to perform complex queries on the data it contains. The database also could be used to store data from other historical and any future environmental studies conducted on the Penobscot River and surrounding regions.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2001

Composition and Distribution of Streambed Sediments in the Penobscot River, Maine, May 1999

Sediment samples were collected and geophysical surveys were run along 50 miles of the Penobscot River, Maine, in the spring of 1999 to produce maps that describe the composition and distribution of streambed sediments for selected areas in the river channel. The objective of the sediment survey was to locate areas along the river where fine-grained, easily transportable sediment types were deposited between Old Town and Medway, Maine. These data can be used to design future sediment-sampling programs to assess the quality of streambed sediments and evaluate the health of the Penobscot River. This report describes the results of the sediment survey and the methods used to collect, analyze, and interpret the data used to create maps of streambed-sediment types in the study area. Deposits of fine-grained sediments (mud and sand) are scattered along the shorelines of the mainland and the islands and at the downstream ends of islands and at the mouths of brooks and streams. The most extensive depositional areas were found in the Mattaseunk Dam impoundment near Medway. The main areas of the river channel consist primarily of gravel, sand, and rock.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗