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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. [1] Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone .
Model of Estuary. The residence time of water is a key variable determining the health of an estuary, particularly from human-induced stresses.Rapid flushing ensures that there is insufficient time for sediment accumulation or dissolved oxygen depletion in the estuary; thus a well flushed estuary is intrinsically more robust than a poorly flushed estuary. [1]
With an estuary water body area of only 11,600 km 2 (4,479 mi 2), [5] the land-to-water ratio is about 14:1. [6] Therefore, the rivers flowing into the Chesapeake Bay have a large influence on water quality in the estuary.
The Sabine–Neches Estuary is the smallest of the seven major estuaries, with a surface area of 45,320 acres (18,340 ha) including Sabine Lake and a number of adjoining bayous, and its small size and high rate of freshwater inflow make it the least saline of the seven. [38]
The Chesapeake Bay (/ ˈ tʃ ɛ s ə p iː k / CHESS-ə-peek) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware.
an ecotone describes a variation in species prevalence and is often not strictly dependent on a major physical factor separating one ecosystem from another, with resulting habitat variability. An ecotone is often unobtrusive and harder to measure. an ecotone is the area where two communities interact.
The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is an estuary reserve in Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is one of the most productive bodies of water in the world. The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve reflects the diversity of estuarine habitats found within the Bay and ...
A tidal prism is the volume of water in an estuary or inlet between mean high tide and mean low tide, [1] or the volume of water leaving an estuary at ebb tide. [2]The inter-tidal prism volume can be expressed by the relationship: P=H A, where H is the average tidal range and A is the average surface area of the basin. [3]