Estuaries

Estuary

A semi enclosed body of water, with a permanent or temporary connection to the sea, where fresh and saltwater fish mix.

What type of estuary is the Chesapeake Bay?

Drowned river valley or coastal plain estuary

What is another name for a coastal plain estuary?

Drowned river valley

Estuaries along the northcentral Gulf of Mexico are typically of the ________________type

bar-built

Long, narrow estuaries carved out by glaciers are called

Fjords

San Francisico Bay is an example of a __________________estuary

Tectonic

What is an example of a species of crustacean that utilizes the Gulf Coast estuaries as nursery grounds

Blue crabs or brown/white shrimp

An estuary that has a sand-bar across the mouth with limited freshwater inflow is called a _____________________

coastal lagoon

In terms of the types of animals found in estuaries, estuaries typically have ________________________species richness and __________________animal abundances

low, high

A broad, poorly defined, fan shaped area of mud formed where a river enters the ocean is called a_______________________

delta

The movement of water at the surface of an estuary is generally ____________________while the movement of the water near the bottom is generally_________________________

seaward/ landward

In a well-mixed estuary there will be a ___________________change in salinity from the surface to the bottom and a _________________________change in salinity from the river to the sea

small/large

In a highly stratified estuary, there will be a ____________________change in salinity from the surface to the bottom and a ______________________change in salinity from the river to the sea

large/small

Compared to coastal waters, the temperatures in an estuary within a temperate climate zone will be ____________variable than those offshore

more

In an estuary where there is a sharp gradient in turbidity, the clearer water generally has a _____________________salinity

higher

Clumping together of sediment particles in presence of salt ions is termed:

flocculation

Most primary production emergent from estuarine plants enter the water as_____________________

detritus