A Coastal Pond Studied by Oceanographic Methods

by K. O. Emery

This out of print book has been reprinted by OPET with an additional chapter. Copies are available through OPET by mail for only $10 per copy plus $2.50 shipping and handling (to order click to the form). ISBN: 0964885808. Paperback. 111 pages.

Editorial Reviews

Review in the American Littoral Society's "Underwater Naturalist", Vol.23, No.4 by Dereck Bennett

A Coastal Pond Studied by Oceanographic Methods By K.O. Emery Epilogue: Oyster Pond - Three Decades of Change By Brian L. Howes and Stanley R. Hart
Emery's idea was to study a small (60 acre) coastal pond on Cape Cod near Woods Hole, MA, the way you study the ocean, a cheap model that would have valuable lessons for both the deepsea and pond students. His classic work was published originally in 1969 and went through three printings. But in the mid-eighties local residents and another generation of scientists began to notice changes in the pond - some oxygen problems and changes in salinity, nutrients, and both plant and fish populations. To pinpoint the reasons for change and possibly reverse them, a Falmouth Pond Watch Program was started in 1987; this book is the result of their observations and suggestions for pond management. There is nothing fancy here, just straightforward descriptions of the pond's topography, fresh/salt water regimes, nutrient budgets, and the like, mostly physical oceanography aimed at a body of water barely 10 feet deep. Their conclusion is that the pond's problems are not caused by the nearby development and a resultant runoff from septic tanks and stormwater but by increased salinity, and should be managed with a light hand as a brackish system. The next steps are anyone's guess; the methods used to get this far are interesting and applicable elsewhere. But while the techniques can be duplicated, it would be difficult to gather as august a group as the Woods Hole scientists and Cape Cod Yankees. You can bet these "Pond Watchers" took the work seriously - lots of tweed jackets with elbow patches, pipe smoking, and "hear, hears" as they wrestled with parts per thousand and coliforms per liter. Their conclusion is that ponds are worthy of serious study, and this book will serve others as a model.


Review in "Coastal Research" June 1997, page 7

"A Coastal Pond Studied by Oceanographic Methods" by K.O. Emery, is a re-issue of a report originally published in 1969. The subject is Oyster Pond, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA. The history of the pond was traced from pre-European days, into the middle of the present century. The discussion covers topography, geology and biology. It summarizes recent findings, and also suggests the first stages of a corrective management plan. It is available from Oyster Pond Environmental Trust, P.O. Box 496, Woods Hole, MA 002543-0496, USA


Book Description

A Coastal Pond Studied by Oceanographic Methods is a reprint of the classic book of the same name by K.O. Emery, distinguished scientist at the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This book was first published in 1969 and enjoyed three printings, but has long since been out of print. This study of Oyster Pond in Falmouth, MA, traces the pond's history from post glacial, pre-European and early settler days to the middle of the 20th century and details the geology, topography,chemistry and biology of the pond in the late 1960s. In Emery's words, it "was a low-cost backyard operation, but it cut through much of the whole field of oceanography". In this reprinting by the Oyster Pond Environmental Trust, Inc., the original book was updated with an addendum, Epilogue: Oyster Pond -- Three Decades of Change, in which Brian Howes and Stanley R. Hart of the WHOI summarize studies of Oyster Pond conducted during the years 1987-1997 by the Falmouth Pond Watch Program. This is an ongoing and cooperative project involving citizen volunteers and local municipality and research institutions. This decadal Pond Watch study elucidates the changes that have taken are taking place in the pond, especially since the large-scale development of housing in the pond's watershed. The book chronicles thirty years of change in the pond's vital statistics during a period of rapid expansion of human activity in its watershed area.


Interested readers will include naturalists, ecologists, environmental scientists, those living along the shores of other coastal ponds in the world, and those interested in preserving or restoring the health of coastal ponds. They will also include teachers and students at all levels, but especially of the high school and college level because, as Emery himself stated, "It is hoped that the examples of low-cost research presented in this study will motivate budding oceanographers to go beyond the classroom and onto the water".

About the Author

K.O. Emery was the Henry Bryant Bigelow Oceanographer Emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution at the date of publication of this edition. He recieved his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois in 1935 and 1941 respectively. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the american Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He won the Shepard Prize for Marine Geology in 1969, the Prince Albert Ier de Monaca Medal in 1971, the AAAS-Rosenstiel Award in Oceanographic Science in 1975, the Maurice Ewing Award of the American Geophysical Union in 1985, and the Twenhofel Medal of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists in 1989. He received an honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Southern California in 1990. He is author or co-author of about 345 scientific papers and 15 books. K.O., as he used was called, died in 1998.
Brian L. Howes is Professor at the Center for Marine and Atmospheric Science and Technology at the Univeristy of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He received his B.A. from Rutgers University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University. He has been Director of the Falmouth Pond Watch Program since 1991. He is the author or co-author of 80 publications and reports. Stanley R. Hart is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and currently holds the Columbus O'Donnell Iselin Chair of Oceanography. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy and his M.S. from the California Institute of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, the Geochemical Society and the european Association of Geochemistry. He won the Goldschmidt Medal of the Geochemical Society in 1992. He is the author or co-author of 180 scientific papers.
This page updated August 15, 2007