Estuary by Mian Hussain

Estuary : 

Estuary By Mian Hussain & Fahd Tata 7

What are they? : 

What are they? An estuary is an area in which fresh water from a river mixes with the salt water from the ocean. The mixture of the nutrient – rich soil with the mineral rich ocean make estuaries a sort of nutrient trap. Thus allowing marsh grass to grow in shallow areas and making nutrients available to producers.

Where are they? : 

Where are they? Estuaries are mainly located at the mouth of a river and opening of the ocean basically meaning the coast. Estuaries can be protected by the violent tide because of the nearby land or peninsulas. For example the largest estuary in the United States is located on the east coast at a place called Chesapeake Bay.

Plants in a Estuary : 

Plants in a Estuary Because of the high amount of light, estuaries support a great amount of rooted plants and also plankton. For example one can find smooth cord grass, black grass, marsh elder, etc. One can also find sea grass underwater. The two main types of plankton that are present are diatoms and dinoflagellates.

Animals in a Estuary : 

Animals in a Estuary An estuary is like a nursing ground for fish like salmon and sea trout who feed on the rich plankton population. Because of these fish dolphins, manatees, and seals also inhabit estuaries. Along with marine life, estuaries also have a migratory bird population, birds such as the black-tailed godwit.

Biotic Factors : 

Biotic Factors The biotic factors of an estuary are all the living parts of the estuary. For example all the land inhabiting animals, plants, and bacteria. For example the black-tailed godwit and the marsh grass. Also the biotic factors are the aquatic plants, animals, and bacteria. For example the horse-shoe crab and the sea grass.

Abiotic Factors : 

Abiotic Factors The abiotic factors of an estuary are all the non-living factors that the estuary contains. Air and water temperature which the heat content of the air and water. Water depth is also a factor in which the distance from the surface is measured to the bottom. Also salinity is a factor in which the concentration of salts dissolved in the water are measured.

Percent of Fresh Water in a Estuary? : 

Percent of Fresh Water in a Estuary? The percentage of fresh water varies in an estuary depending on the ocean tides inflow and the river’s outflow. We will use the Chesapeake Bay estuary as an example like we did earlier. The percentage of fresh water in the Chesapeake Bay is 80% because the land surroundings protects the bay from the inflow of too much ocean tide. However the salinity increases if one goes farther into the bay.

What Percent of it is Water on Earth? : 

What Percent of it is Water on Earth? 97% of the water on the planet is stored in the ocean. The next major amount is 2% which is stored in glaciers and polar ice sheets. Then a little more then 50% of the remaining 1% is stored as underground water. Whilst the remaining amount which is about 40% is stored in lakes, rivers, wetlands, and water vapor. Thus meaning that estuaries only make up about 0.10% of the total amount of water on earth.

Interesting Facts : 

Interesting Facts Of the 10 largest cities on earth, 6 were constructed near estuaries.  New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Bombay, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janerio. Estuaries in popular locations were used as dump sites. Estuaries are the most productive ecosystems on earth. Many animals depend on estuaries for breeding, food, and migration stopovers.

Pictures : 

Pictures

Bibliography of Pictures : 

Bibliography of Pictures http://www.foxnews.com/images/298649/0_61_pink_dolphin_2.jpg http://www.weeksbay.org/photo_gallery/raptors/4.jpg http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/Africa/SouthAfrica/images/StLuciaHippos04.jpg http://sitemaker.umich.edu/chrpwe/files/estuary_image1.jpg http://dnr.md.gov/mydnr/askanexpert/art/estuary_LGuiterrez.jpg http://swfsc.noaa.gov/uploadedImages/Operating_units/FED/Salmon_Ecology/ocean_estuary_stations.jpg http://sain.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_4685_603_1739_43/http%3B/nbiipublisher.cbi.cr.usgs.gov%3B7087/publishedcontent/publish/geographic/central_sw_gulf/wetland/wetlandintro/wetlands_intro_content_3.jpg http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/images/seagrass2.jpg http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/sdpls/plants/jpgs/Salicornia_virginica3.jpg http://english.pravda.ru/img/idb/photo/under_water_1.jpg

Bibliography of Information : 

Bibliography of Information Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Environmental Book http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/estuary.html&edu=high http://estuary.uconn.edu/EWP11.html http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/estuaries/3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary http://www.estuaries.gov/estuaries101/About/Default.aspx?ID=241 http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Hy-La/Hydrologic-Cycle.html http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/estuary.html

Slide 14: 

THANK YOU BABY!!! ;)