| Quonochontaug Pond | |
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 Quonochontaug Pond in August 2009 | |
  Quonochontaug Pond | |
| Location | Washington County, Rhode Island |
| Coordinates | 41°20′30″N71°43′18″W / 41.34167°N 71.72167°W |
| Type | lagoon |
Quonochontaug (KWAHN-uh-kon-tog [1] ) is a coastal lagoon in the towns of Charlestown and Westerly, both in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. [2] It is the most saline of nine such lagoons (often referred to as "salt ponds") in southern Rhode Island. [3]
Quonochontaug Pond is the deepest and most saline of the salt ponds. It is connected directly to the sea by a breachway that was stabilized with rock jetties by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. And, as in the other ponds, sand eroding from the ocean side of the barrier beach is transported through the breachway into the pond where it settles and creates expanding shoals. In contrast to the other ponds, however, much of its western barrier beach remains in a protected, undeveloped state even though it is privately owned.
The town boundary between Westerly and Charlestown cuts through the middle of the pond. Water quality in past years has been very good because the pond is relatively deep, well flushed by the tides, and development has been limited. It is the least intensely developed of the ponds. Most of the development is residential, and much of it is occupied only seasonally. Like all the ponds, Quonochontaug is an important nursery for winter flounder, young striped bass, blue fish, and tautog. Bay scallops fluctuate in abundance from year to year, but in a good year, they are often found in this salt pond.
In the past few years, development pressures have increased dramatically, even though the watershed area is relatively small and a large portion of it is wet, red maple swamps. Much of the available remaining land is being subdivided into building lots.
Often referred to by locals as "Quonnie Pond", or "Quonnie", [1] the lagoon is bounded on the south by coastal beaches, with a narrow breach way, created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, providing access to Block Island Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean. The westernmost side of Quonnie is the site of the Weekapaug Inn, whose restaurants overlook the lagoon.
This text is from Salt Pond Watchers Summary Data Report 1985 – 1987, Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island Technical Report No. 10, October 1990, by P. Kullberg, V. Lee, and M. Platt.
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into coastal lagoons and atoll lagoons. They have also been identified as occurring on mixed-sand and gravel coastlines. There is an overlap between bodies of water classified as coastal lagoons and bodies of water classified as estuaries. Lagoons are common coastal features around many parts of the world.
Westerly is a town on the southwestern coastline of Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a population of 23,359 as of the 2020 census.
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or above it, which poses a danger to navigation. Shoals are also known as sandbanks, sandbars, or gravelbars. Two or more shoals that are either separated by shared troughs or interconnected by past or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex.
Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen. They are subject to change during storms and other action, but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish. A barrier chain may extend for hundreds of kilometers, with islands periodically separated by tidal inlets. The largest barrier island in the world is Padre Island of Texas, United States, at 113 miles (182 km) long. Sometimes an important inlet may close permanently, transforming an island into a peninsula, thus creating a barrier peninsula, often including a beach, barrier beach. Though many are long and narrow, the length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range, wave energy, sediment supply, sea-level trends, and basement controls. The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island.
Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island, close to Cook Strait. The lake is used for the production of salt.
Route 1A, largely signed as Scenic 1A, is a 33.3-mile (53.6 km) long numbered state highway located in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The route, which parallels U.S. Route 1 for its entire length, has four distinct sections connected by US 1, two of which require median u-turn ramps to cross US 1. It travels through five towns in Washington County: Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Narragansett, and North Kingstown.
Quonochontaug is a village in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is composed of three small beach communities, and is part of Charlestown.
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web.
Misquamicut State Beach is a seaside public recreation area in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. It occupies a portion of Misquamicut Beach, a 3-mile-long (4.8 km) barrier island that extends westward from Weekapaug to Watch Hill and separates Winnapaug Pond from the Atlantic Ocean. The state beach covers 51 acres (21 ha) and features a large beach pavilion with multiple public facilities.
U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is a major north–south U.S. Route through the U.S. state of Rhode Island, specifically within the Providence metropolitan area. Staying close to the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Bay, it is a longer route than Interstate 95 (I-95), and many portions are a four-lane divided highway.
Winnapaug Pond is a breached saltwater lagoon in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States, connected to Block Island Sound by the Weekapaug Breachway, which was constructed during the mid-1950s. The 2.5-mile (4.0 km) lake is separated from the Atlantic by a large sandbar. The Atlantic side of the sandbar is lined by beaches, including Misquamicut Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Westerly Town Beach. In 2010, its overall water quality was assessed as "good". Winnapaug is relatively small and shallow, and is favorable for kayaking. It is one of nine coastal lagoons, referred to as "salt ponds" by locals, in southern Rhode Island.
Trustom Pond is a closed lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is one of nine coastal lagoons in southern Rhode Island. It has a surface area of 800 acres (320 ha), and is the only undeveloped salt pond in the state. The pond averages 1.3 feet (0.40 m) deep, and has a salinity level of 5 parts per thousand. It is non-tidal, except when breached by storms. The water directly receives about 219,844,022 US gallons (832,200 m3) of precipitation per year, with an estimated 796,215 US gallons (3,014 m3) in daily groundwater flow. No streams flow into the pond, though a nearby stream "captures water that otherwise would have flowed to Trustom Pond".
Maschaug Pond is a coastal lagoon in Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. Located at 41°19′07″N71°49′51″W, it is one of nine such lagoons in southern Rhode Island. A "small, brackish pond", it is not permanently connected to the Block Island Sound, and is largely bordered by the Misquamicut Club golf course. Nests of the piping plover, which has been federally designated as a threatened species, have been documented within the watershed.
Cards Pond, or Card Pond, is a coastal lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States.
Ninigret is a coastal lagoon in Charlestown, Rhode Island, in the United States, located at 41°22′45″N71°38′43″W. It is the largest of the nine lagoons, or "salt ponds", in southern Rhode Island. It is utilized for recreational activities, as well as oyster and quahog harvesting. Found along its shores are "extensive" archaeological remains. Ninigret Pond, like others in the region, was "formed after the recession of the glaciers 12,000 years ago". The pond is situated on low-lying ground, and as such, it is considered particularly vulnerable to storm surge flooding. It is connected to Green Hill Pond via a small channel.
Quicksand Pond is a pond in Little Compton, Rhode Island.
Charlestown Breachway State Beach is a seaside public recreation area on Block Island Sound in the town of Charlestown, Rhode Island. It is located on the east side of the manmade channel that connects Ninigret Pond with the Atlantic Ocean.
East Beach or East State Beach is a seaside public recreation area on Quonochontaug Neck, the narrow barrier island that separates Block Island Sound and Ninigret Pond, in the town of Charlestown, Rhode Island, United States. The state beach encompasses three miles (4.8 km) of oceanfront and abuts Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
The geology of Rhode Island is based on nearly one billion year old igneous crystalline basement rocks formed as part of the microcontinent Avalonia that collided with the supercontinent Gondwana. The region experienced substantial folding associated with its landlocked position during the Alleghanian orogeny mountain building event. The region accumulated sedimentary rocks, including small deposits of coal. The region was covered with thick Atlantic Coastal Plain sediments, with the erosion of the Appalachians and the creation of the Atlantic Ocean throughout the past 200 million years. These surficial sediments and soils were substantially reworked by the Pleistocene glaciations. The state's geology is part of the broader geology of New England.
Rhode Island's salt ponds | ||
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