Kennebec River Sand Waves at Fort Popham, Phippsburg, Maine
Kennebec River Sand Waves, Phippsburg, ME Maine Geological Survey Maine Geologic Facts and Localities April, 2020 Kennebec River Sand Waves at Fort Popham, Phippsburg, Maine 43°45'17"N, 69°47’4"W Text by Stephen M. Dickson Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 1 Kennebec River Sand Waves, Phippsburg, ME Maine Geological Survey Introduction For more than 10,000 years, the Kennebec River has carried sand to the sea. Once the riverine sand is released to the coast, ocean waves and currents reshape it into beaches and a large submerged sandy “paleodelta” that extends to a depth of 200 feet and is estimated to have 440 million cubic yards of sediment from the river (Barnhardt et al., 1997; Kelley et al., 1997). To get to Popham Beach State Park and Hunnewell Beach, sand must pass by Fort Popham at the river mouth (Figure 1). Maine Geological Survey Photo by J. T. Kelley, University of Maine, April 3, 2012. 3, April of Maine, University Kelley, T. J. by Photo Figure 1. An aerial photo looking north and showing the location of the Kennebec River at Fort Popham and Popham Beach State Park. Fort Popham is built on bedrock at a narrow constriction on the Kennebec River between Phippsburg (west bank) and Georgetown (east bank). Maine Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry 2 Kennebec River Sand Waves, Phippsburg, ME Maine Geological Survey Mixing Tides with River Currents From the vantage point of Fort Popham, currents pass by the Fort reversing twice a day as the tides ebb and flood (Figure 2).
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