What are estuaries PDF?

What are estuaries PDF?

Probably the simplest definition is that an estuary is a partially enclosed coastal embayment where fresh water and sea water meet and mix. The estuary can have the simple morphology of a river entering the sea or a complex and lengthy one, like in fjords.

What is the estuarine habitat?

Estuaries are bodies of water where rivers meet the sea or a large lake. Rivers spread out and slow when they meet the sea, creating unique conditions that are not found elsewhere. They provide homes for diverse wildlife, including popular fish species.

What is estuary PPT?

INTRODUCTION  An Estuary is a semi-enclosed areas where freshwater from rivers meet ocean water, the two being mixed by the action of tides.  Estuaries are highly productive ecosystem and characteristically are more productive than the adjacent sea or river.

What is an ideal estuarine ecosystem?

Environmental value Estuaries are unique and important natural environments. They contain a wide range of habitats and ecosystems including large areas of open water, rocky reefs, unconsolidated bed sediments, intertidal sand and mud flats, mangroves, saltmarshes and temperate seagrass beds.

What are the 4 types of estuaries?

There are four different kinds of estuaries, each created a different way: 1) coastal plain estuaries; 2) tectonic estuaries; 3) bar-built estuaries; and 4) fjord estuaries. Coastal plain estuaries (1) are created when sea levels rise and fill in an existing river valley.

Which are most common in estuaries?

Some common estuarine habitats are oyster reefs, kelp forests, rocky and soft shorelines, submerged aquatic vegetation, coastal marshes, mangroves, deepwater swamps, and riparian forests.

Why estuarine habitat is a very productive area?

Estuaries tend to be very rich in organisms. Ocean tides in the narrow confines of an estuary provide relatively strong currents. As we pointed out in Chapters 6 and 18, coastal waters tend to be considerably more productive than fresh waters. Tidal currents, with their mixing action, help to drive this production.

What are the factors affecting estuarine habitat?

The factors which affect estuarine habitats are common to aquatic habitats; these include:

• Temperature.
• Wind.
• Relative humidity.
• Light.
• pH, etc.

What is estuary Slideshare?

 An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water along the coast where freshwater from rivers and streams meets and mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries and the lands surrounding them are places of transition from land to sea and freshwater to salt water.

What is unique about an estuarine system?

Estuaries are unique environments to which plants and animals have specially adapted. Estuaries are protected from ocean forces by reefs, barrier islands, headlands and deltas. Estuaries transport and trap nutrients and sediment through the combined action of freshwater flow, wind, waves and tidal action.

What are the three types of estuarine habitat?

What are the 5 main types of estuaries?

Estuaries can also be classified by the circulation patterns:

• Salt Wedge: This is the simplest circulation pattern where a large, fast flowing river enters the ocean in an area where the tidal range is low to moderate.
• Well-Mixed:
• Partially Mixed:
• Fjord: