Massachusetts Bay

Bay on the Atlantic Ocean

42°22′30″N 70°44′58″W / 42.37500°N 70.74944°W / 42.37500; -70.74944Ocean/sea sourcesAtlantic OceanBasin countries

United States

Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Description

The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about 42 miles (68 km). Its northern and southern shores incline toward each other through the entrance to Boston Harbor, where they are about five miles apart. The depth from the base of the triangle to Boston Harbor is about 21 miles (34 km). The westmost point of the bay is at the city of Boston.

The northern shore of Massachusetts Bay is rocky and irregular, but the southern shore is low, marshy, and sandy. Along the shores are a number of capes and headlands, and off the coast a number of small islands, especially in the entrance to Boston Harbor. The principal inlets are: on the north coast, Gloucester Harbor, Nahant Bay, Salem Harbor, Marblehead Harbor, and Lynn Harbor, and on the west, Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay, and Quincy Bay (the two latter being part of the Outer Boston Harbor), and on the south coast, Hingham Bay. Massachusetts Bay is itself part of the Gulf of Maine, which extends from Nova Scotia south to Cape Cod Bay. Cape Cod Bay is sometimes considered to be part of Massachusetts Bay. Under this interpretation, the name "Massachusetts Bay" denotes the entire rectangular area of ocean between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.

Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site

The Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site in deep water off the coast has been used for ocean dumping, to dispose of munitions, dredged material, rock and construction debris and sunken vessels.^[1] Between 1919 and 1970 chemical warfare munitions were dumped, and after World War II hundreds of thousands of tons of surplus artillery and munitions, which are the majority of munitions washed up on shore. Most of them are inert unexploded ordnance but occasionally they are live. Fishermen have brought a torpedo into Provincetown, Massachusetts, a depth charge into Gloucester, Massachusetts, and mustard munitions into New Bedford, Massachusetts.^[2]

References

^ "Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site Maps, Open-File Report 98-344". U.S. Geological Survey. 1998. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
^ Edgar B. Herwick III (29 July 2015). "Explosive Beach Objects-- Just Another Example Of Massachusetts' Charm". WGBH news. PBS. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Massachusetts Bay" . Encyclopedia Americana.
Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Massachusetts Bay" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Massachusetts Bay.

"Massachusetts Bay" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.

Gulf of Maine estuaries

Maine

Bays	Blue Hill Bay Casco Bay Chandler Bay Dennys Bay Englishman Bay Frenchman Bay Harrington Bay Machias Bay Maquoit Bay Merrymeeting Bay Muscongus Bay Narraguagus Bay Passamaquoddy Bay Penobscot Bay Pleasant Bay Saco Bay Wohoa Bay
River mouths	Batson River Benjamin River Cape Neddick River Damariscotta River Johns River Jordan River Josias River Kennebunk River Little River (Boothbay) Little River (Drakes Island) Little River (Georgetown) Little River (Goosefare Bay) Little River (York) Morse River Mousam River Ogunquit River Pemaquid River Piscataqua River Sheepscot River Sprague River Webhannet River York River

Massachusetts

Bays	Cape Cod Bay Massachusetts Bay
River mouths	Annisquam River Eagle Hill River Egypt River Ipswich River Jericho Creek Merrimack River Roger Island River Rowley River Skug River

New Brunswick

Bays	Bay of Fundy Chignecto Bay Cumberland Basin Passamaquoddy Bay Shepody Bay
River mouths	Big Salmon River Quiddy River Saint John River

New Hampshire

River mouths	Blackwater River Hampton River Piscataqua River

Nova Scotia

Bays	Bay of Fundy Annapolis Basin Cobequid Bay Cumberland Basin Minas Basin St. Marys Bay
River mouths	Tusket River

v t e Coastal waterbodies of Massachusetts
Bays	Buzzards Bay Cape Cod Bay Dorchester Bay Duxbury Bay Hingham Bay Massachusetts Bay Mount Hope Bay Nahant Bay Narragansett Bay Plymouth Bay Popponesset Bay Quincy Bay Waquoit Bay
Channels	Broad Sound North Entrance Channel Canapitsit Channel Fort Point Channel Hypocrite Channel Salem Channel South Channel
Coves	Cat Cove Juniper Cove Orleans Cove Warren Cove
Harbors	Barnstable Harbor Boston Harbor East Harbor Hyannis Harbor Marblehead Harbor Plymouth Harbor Port of New Bedford Provincetown Harbor Rock Harbor Salem Harbor
River mouths	Annisquam River Back River Blackwater River Bass River Eagle Hill River Egypt River Fore River Ipswich River Jericho Creek Merrimack River Mitchell River Oyster Pond River Quashnet River Roger Island River Rowley River Skug River Tiasquam River Weir River
Sounds	Broad Sound Nantucket Sound Vineyard Sound
Straits	Quick's Hole Robinson's Hole Woods Hole

Rivers of Massachusetts by drainage system

Atlantic Ocean

Buzzards Bay	Acushnet River Agawam River Back River Copicut River Crooked River Mattapoisett River Nasketucket River Paskamanset River Pocasset River Sippican River Slocums River Wankinco River Westport River Weweantic River
Nantucket Sound	Bass River Bumps River Childs River Coonamesset River Mashpee River Mitchell River Oyster Pond River Popponesset Creek Quashnet River Santuit River
Others	Tiasquam River

Gulf of Maine

Cape Cod Bay	Bluefish River Eel River Herring River Jones River Little Pamet River Pamet River Town Brook
Massachusetts Bay	Aberjona River Alewife Brook Canton River Charles River Chelsea Creek Cochato River Fore River Fresh River Indian Head River Malden River Millers River Monatiquot River Muddy River Mystic River Neponset River North River Saugus River Stony Brook (Boston) Stony Brook (Waltham) Stop River Weir River Weymouth Back River
Merrimack River Watershed	Artichoke River Assabet River Back River Beaver Brook Cochichewick River Concord River Little River Merrimack River Nashua River Nissitissit River North Nashua River Phillips Brook Powwow River Quinapoxet River Salmon Brook Shawsheen River Souhegan River South Branch Souhegan River South Nashua River Spicket River Squannacook River Stillwater River Sudbury River Trout Brook Vine Brook Whitman River
Others	Annisquam River Blackwater River Eagle Hill River Egypt River Ipswich River Jericho Creek Roger Island River Rowley River Skug River

Long Island Sound

Connecticut River Watershed	Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River
Housatonic River Watershed	Housatonic River Konkapot River Schenob Brook Umpachene River
Thames River Watershed	French River Quinebaug River

Narragansett Bay

Mount Hope Bay (Taunton River Watershed)	Assonet River Canoe River Cedar Swamp River Cocasset River Cotley River Forge River Hockomock River Matfield River Mill River Nemasket River Poor Meadow Brook Quequechan River Rumford River Salisbury Plain River Satucket River Segreganset River Shumatuscacant River Snake River Taunton River Three Mile River Town River Wading River Winnetuxet River
Providence River Watershed	Abbott Run Blackstone River Bungay River Chockalog River Mill River Mumford River Peters River Quinsigamond River Sevenmile River Tannery River Ten Mile River West River Wilde River
Others	Barrington River Cole River Coles Brook Kickamuit River Lees River Palmer River Runnins River