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ESTUARIES

A Short Presentation

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Lets start simple...

Estuaries...are semi-enclosed coastal bodies of

water with one or more rivers orstreams flowing into them, andwith a free connection to the open

sea.are often associated with high rates

of biological productivity.

are also known as bays, lagoons,harbors, inlets or sounds.

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Now a bit morecomplex...

An estuary is typically the tidal mouth of ariver and estuaries are often characterized bysedimentation or silt carried in from terrestrial

runoff and, frequently, from offshore. They aremore likely to occur on submerged coasts,where the sea level has risen in relation to theland. These can become estuaries if there is astream or river flowing into them.

Find out more...

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Classes of estuaries

Salt wedge... River output greatly exceeds marine input; there

is little mixing, and thus a sharp contrast betweenfresh surface water and saline bottom water.

Highly stratified... River output and marine input are more even,

with river flow still dominant; turbulence inducesmore mixing of salt water upward than the

reverse.Slightly stratified

River output is less than the marine input. Here,turbulence causes mixing of the whole water

column, such that salinity varies morelongitudinally rather than vertically.

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And more...Vertically Mixed

River output is much less than marine input,such that the freshwater contribution isnegligible; longitudinal salinity variation only.

Inverse Estuary

Located in regions with high evaporation, thereis no freshwater input and in fact salinityincreases inland; overall flow is inward at thesurface, downwells at the inland terminus, andflows outward subsurface.

Intermittent Estuary Estuary type varies dramatically depending on

freshwater input, and is capable of changingfrom a wholly marine embayment to any of the

other estuary types.

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Flora and Fauna

Microflora like algae, and macroflora, such asseaweeds, marsh grasses, and mangrove trees(only in tropical places), can be found here.Estuaries support a diverse fauna including avariety of worms, oysters, crabs andwaterfowl.

For a few examples...

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Examples of estuaries

The Moore River Estuary

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And more...

Estuary mouth at low tide..

Casuarina Coastal Reserve in Darwin, Australia

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And manymore...

NASA photograph of the Ro de la Plata estuary.

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The flora and fauna

Since it is located in betweenfreshwater and saltwater biomes, itfosters a wonderful abundance anddiversity of wildlife...

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Fauna

Shore birds, fish, crabs, lobsters,marine mammals, clams, shellfish,

marine worms, sea birds, andreptiles are just some of theanimals that make their homes in

and around estuaries.

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To get an idea of what Imean...

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Flora...

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Submitted by:

Marc Julian M. Jamerlan

Karl Julian T. Jaranilla

Maria T. Montelibano

Marie Athena C. Ybaez

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CREDITSSources:

Google

Yahoo!

Wikipedia

NASA