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630:, which helped to support a stable population around the bay and aided, in part, to feed the flood of immigration. Stable communities continued to grow and change with new industries supporting a larger population base. Advances in methods of fishing and shellfish collecting resulted in overextraction of these resources from the bay. The peak of the fishing industry occurred in the late 1880s to 1910s.
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653:) to control the mosquito problem, the carving of ditches to drain wetlands, the filling of shore lowlands, the channelization of creeks, highway and sewer construction, neighborhood development, and a myriad point and non-point sources of household, automobile, industrial chemicals, and ocean dumping all contributed to growing toxicity of the bay.
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certain species of fish and birds continue to decline, and the introduction of tenacious exotic species from around the world contribute to their decline. As a sign of optimism though, oysters are beginning to naturally reappear in the Hudson River after having vanished completely about the time of
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were found around
Raritan Bay and on Staten Island, a testament of the utilization of the bay for food by Algonquin Indian tribes (Lenapes) who occupied the area when early Colonialists arrived. Early settlers used these shell piles for road construction and field fertilizer. Tottenville was once
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The result was an ecological disaster. The bay approached sterile conditions at the peak of pollution and algal bloom-induced anoxia. Environmental actions from the 1970s to present have helped slowly bring back sea life, but current conditions pale to the wealth of marine resources of the past;
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For most of the 20th century, the shores of Arthur Kill have been home to the largest petroleum importing, refining, and storage facilities on Earth; as a consequence the estuary has been host to major and minor oil spills. In addition, Arthur Kill drains the area encompassing the second largest
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common in bays in the region today. South of western Long Island, tidal flats and wetlands occupied the margins of a tidal estuary (now submerged by marine waters). Inner
Raritan Bay began to fill about 2,500 years ago with large oyster beds forming along the estuarine tributaries. Sea level
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to the waterways. Chemical wastes cause stress and disruption of the life cycles of plankton, shellfish and other invertebrates, and the fish, birds, and other wildlife that they support.
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Fishing and farming slowly gave way to industries including ship building, ceramics, chemicals and paint manufacturing, electrolytic copper refining, and petroleum refining. In the
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were created to accommodate the waste from the growing industrial empire. The building of shore management structures (dikes, groins, seawalls), the spraying of
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continued to rise about one foot per century. This rise in sea level has resulted in the landward migration of the shoreline (aided by storm-induced
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time. Lagoons and bays in the area around Sandy Hook hosted oysters, hard and soft shell clams, lobsters, blue crabs, and a variety of other
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to a landscape dominated by spruce and pine forests. These forests gradually gave way to the modern deciduous forest in the region by mid-
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levels in the fish catch and prompted government recommendations against its routine consumption.
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area, large pits were dug to extract the clays for ceramics and bricks, and huge chemical dumps,
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Valley. This saddle area is a very broad flood plain that preserves river terrace gravels (
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Archeological evidence suggests that humans were already in the region at the close of the
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Regional industrial overdevelopment and other pollution factors have raised
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was perhaps the major drainage channel along the ice front throughout the
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industry during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially
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carved back into its headlands and captured the major drainages from the
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also live in
Raritan Bay. The bay is a popular destination for
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890:"Geology of National Parks - Geologic History of Raritan Bay"
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due to its proximity to the densely populated areas of
442:. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's
503:well known for its roads paved with oyster shells.
474:tribe who lived in the vicinity of the bay and its
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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558:). During the lowstand in sea level caused by the
137:Raritan Bay is shown as highlighted area south of
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805:Marine life of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
750:. The crustacean species represented include the
585:, the area encompassing Raritan Bay changed from
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478:for thousands of years, prior to the arrival of
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1736:Bodies of water of Middlesex County, New Jersey
800:Geography of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
1741:Bodies of water of Monmouth County, New Jersey
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951:"Don't Eat the Fish: PCBs in the Raritan Bay"
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454:communities in the New Jersey counties of
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
1781:Environmental issues in New York (state)
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861:"Raritan Bay - Sandy Hook Bay Complex"
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573:As the Wisconsin glaciers melted, the
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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422:located at the southern portion of
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547:State (Stage 5), as well as older
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1766:Bodies of water of Staten Island
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1660:Gateway National Recreation Area
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949:Reynolds, Joe (April 27, 2006).
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984:Geologic History of Raritan Bay
933:U.S. Department of the Interior
922:Geologic History of Raritan Bay
486:colonists in the 17th century.
34:needs additional citations for
1566:Colonial history of New Jersey
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616:The south coast of Raritan Bay
1:
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515:The south side of Raritan Bay
466:. The bay is named after the
305:69,188 acres (27,999 ha)
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1751:Borders of New York (state)
1677:Naval Weapons Station Earle
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702:Raritan Bay's fish include
313:11–30 feet (3.4–9.1 m)
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1650:Delaware and Raritan Canal
1048:South Branch Raritan River
1043:North Branch Raritan River
694:to enter the Arthur Kill.
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1776:Environment of New Jersey
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1746:Bays of New York (state)
1248:Larger-sized communities
939:, accessed June 24, 2008
683:The bay is crossed by a
16:Bay in the United States
1771:Estuaries of New Jersey
896:. National Park Service
575:Flandrian Transgression
448:Perth Amboy, New Jersey
1655:Knox–Porter Resolution
1623:Middlebrook encampment
937:U.S. Geological Survey
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450:, on the south by the
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1368:(10,000 to 25,000 in
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545:Sangemon Interglacial
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297:12 miles (19 km)
205:40.48333°N 74.18306°W
1686:'Summer White House'
780:recreational fishing
659:Fresh Kills Landfill
556:Bridgetown Formation
525:Wisconsin glaciation
289:9 miles (14 km)
43:improve this article
1608:Battle of Millstone
1603:Battle of Princeton
1598:American Revolution
1571:Elizabethtown Tract
1108:Central communities
894:3dparks.wr.usgs.gov
657:landfill on Earth (
635:Keasbey, New Jersey
606:Economy and ecology
541:Pensauken Formation
438:and is part of the
396:Old Bridge Township
386:Middletown Township
327:Residence time
321:45 feet (14 m)
210:40.48333; -74.18306
201: /
1731:Bays of New Jersey
1613:Battle of Monmouth
1194:Millstone Township
927:2006-09-23 at the
825:Upper New York Bay
820:Lower New York Bay
736:northern king fish
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529:Atlantic Highlands
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470:, a branch of the
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139:Lower New York Bay
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562:glacier, the
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60: –
59:
58:"Raritan Bay"
55:
54:Find sources:
48:
44:
38:
37:
32:This article
30:
26:
21:
20:
1682:Donald Trump
1665:Fort Hancock
1343:West Windsor
1293:Hillsborough
1273:East Windsor
1074:
963:. Retrieved
959:the original
954:
944:
898:. Retrieved
893:
868:. Retrieved
865:nctc.fws.gov
864:
756:fiddler crab
704:striped bass
701:
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675:
671:World War II
667:
655:
632:
621:
572:
568:Newark Basin
533:Newark Basin
518:
493:
426:between the
415:
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302:Surface area
221:Part of
120:
105:
99:January 2021
96:
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1618:Village Inn
1586:Nassau Hall
1465:Springfield
1390:Bound Brook
1318:Mount Olive
1268:Bridgewater
1231:South River
1174:Green Brook
1125:South Amboy
1120:Perth Amboy
1075:Raritan Bay
1068:South River
1058:Green Brook
965:October 22,
900:October 22,
870:October 22,
815:Jamaica Bay
768:spider crab
649:(and other
641:piles, and
549:Pleistocene
543:) from the
496:Pleistocene
428:U.S. states
416:Raritan Bay
376:Union Beach
361:South Amboy
356:Perth Amboy
350:Settlements
286:Max. length
208: /
183:Coordinates
170:Raritan Bay
126:Raritan Bay
1720:Categories
1690:Bedminster
1670:Sandy Hook
1633:Rockingham
1460:Somerville
1450:Readington
1445:Plainsboro
1440:Montgomery
1348:Woodbridge
1338:Sayreville
1328:Piscataway
1323:Old Bridge
1204:Plainfield
1184:Middletown
1164:Branchburg
1159:Bedminster
1115:The Amboys
836:References
760:green crab
651:pesticides
554:deposits (
436:New Jersey
390:Sandy Hook
366:Sayreville
318:Max. depth
294:Max. width
196:74°10′59″W
193:40°29′00″N
69:newspapers
1643:Ross Hall
1559:Navesinks
1511:Middlesex
1501:Hunterdon
1435:Middlesex
1333:Princeton
1303:Manalapan
1030:Geography
931:from the
752:blue crab
690:allowing
643:landfills
624:shellfish
560:Wisconsin
535:into the
456:Middlesex
381:Keansburg
341:12-32 ppt
1554:Raritans
1526:Somerset
1516:Monmouth
1493:Counties
1430:Metuchen
1425:Manville
1380:Aberdeen
1308:Marlboro
925:Archived
794:See also
748:weakfish
716:bluefish
663:leachate
591:Holocene
531:and the
468:Raritans
460:Monmouth
432:New York
337:Salinity
1541:History
1415:Holmdel
1179:Matawan
1169:Clinton
776:mussels
688:channel
685:dredged
639:fly ash
628:oysters
552:fluvial
507:Geology
490:History
484:English
371:Keyport
83:scholar
1549:Lenape
1521:Morris
1506:Mercer
1475:Warren
1470:Summit
1405:Hazlet
1313:Monroe
1278:Edison
744:tautog
587:tundra
579:Hudson
472:Lenape
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
1531:Union
772:Clams
720:porgy
708:fluke
480:Dutch
476:river
418:is a
272:Basin
90:JSTOR
76:books
1370:2020
1253:2020
967:2016
902:2016
872:2016
786:and
774:and
766:and
746:and
519:The
482:and
458:and
434:and
62:news
1688:in
1684:'s
678:PCB
647:DDT
430:of
420:bay
45:by
1722::
953:.
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910:^
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