1 / 12

Characteristics of major types of coastal zones

Characteristics of major types of coastal zones. By Rema Faddoul. Major Types Include:. Estuary – Chesapeake Bay largest estuary in the United States is located off the Atlantic Ocean. Salt Marshes Along the Heathcote River, Christchurch, New Zealand Mud Flats Cobequid Bay, Nova-Scotia.

nathan
Download Presentation

Characteristics of major types of coastal zones

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Characteristics of major types of coastal zones By Rema Faddoul

  2. Major Types Include: • Estuary – Chesapeake Bay largest estuary in the United States is located off the Atlantic Ocean. • Salt Marshes Along the Heathcote River, Christchurch, New Zealand • Mud FlatsCobequid Bay, Nova-Scotia

  3. Estuaries • Partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers/streams flowing into it and a free connection to the open sea • Economically significant as seaports, centers of ocean commerce and commercial fisheries • They exist today because sea level has risen approximately 120 m since the glaciers started melting 18,000 years ago

  4. 4 Major Classes of Estuaries

  5. Coastal Plain Estuary Form when sea level rises and floods existing river valleys Ex. Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia

  6. Fjord (pronounced Fee-yord) Forms when sea level rises and floods a glaciated valley Typically has a U-shape with steep walls Common in Alaska, Canada, New Zealand, Chile and Norway

  7. Bar-Built Estuary Shallow and separated from open ocean by sand bars parallel to the coast Lagoons that separate barrier islands from main land are bar built estuaries. Ex. Pamlico Sound in North Carolina

  8. Tectonic Estuary Forms when faulting/folding of rocks creates a restricted down dropped area into which rivers flow Ex. San Francisco Bay due to movements along the San Andrea Fault

  9. Salt Marshes • Intermittently submerged by ocean water • Support a variety of grasses • Serve as nurseries for commercially important fish • Stopover point for many species of waterfowl and migratory birds • Flounder and bluefish use marshes for feeding and protection in winter • Oysters, scallops, clams, eels and smelt are located in marshes • Efficient at cleansing polluted water from agricultural runoff and toxins General Information The Specifics

  10. Salt Marsh at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area

  11. Mud Flats • Organisms found in mud flats include eelgrass, turtle grass, crabs, mud snails and filter feeders due to presence of plankton. • Below the surface one can find burrowing animals such as clams, worms and crustaceans • Mudflats are under threat from predicted sea level rises, land claims for development and chemical pollution • Generally found next to salt marshes and sheltered areas like bays, bayous, lagoons • Form when mud is deposited by tides and rivers • Most sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, thus submerged/exposed twice daily due to tidal flow

  12. Teshekpuk Lake On the Arctic Coast of Alaska

More Related