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WHAT IS ESTUARY
3. Mud/Sandflats
4. Plankton Community
High production by nutrients imported by the
freshwater inflow
Highest production and biomass at intermediate
salinities. At head of estuary, nutrient concentrations
are high but turbidity by sediments suspended in river
water is high as well so that phytoplankton remains
light-limited; as sediments sink out of the water column
along the river plume and water turbidity decreases,
phytoplankton can make use of high nutrient
concentrations at intermediate salinities.
benthic filter-feeders profit from plankton production
high sedimentation of plankton from estuarine plumes
can cause oxygen consumption and anoxic sediments
at the seaward edge (even hypoxia in the water; for
example Mississippi River plume)
5. Mangroves
Mangroves replace saltmarshes in tropical regions (6075% of tropical and subtropical coastlines), upper tidal
zone
High salinity tolerance: broad distribution from high in
the estuary to almost fully marine water, but waveprotected zone
Mangroves: 12 genera, 60 species of flowering,
terrestrial trees and shrubs restricted to mangrove
swamps; shallow and far-reaching roots; airial roots help
in oxygen supply because the sediments are anoxic;
Viviparous growth: seeds germinate on the tree, and
young plants fall into the water
Ecological importance:
*Host and feed breeding birds.
*protect shoreline from erosion during tropical
storms.
*important fisheries and supply (boat and fire wood)
in native people.
Classification of Estuaries
1. Coastal plain estuaries are created when sea levels rise
and fill in an existing river valley.
2. Tectonic activity estuaries, the shifting together and rifting
apart of the Earth's crust, creates tectonic estuaries.
3. Bar-built estuaries happens when a lagoon or bay is
protected from the ocean by a sandbar orbarrier island,
4. Fjord estuaries are a type of estuary created by glaciers.
REFERENCE
(www.epa.gov//estuaries)
(National Oceania and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of
Commerce)
(core.ecu.edu/geology/woods/estuariesl.htm)