ESTUARY ECOSYSTEM
Estuaries are located where river meets the sea.
Estuarie are water bodies where the flow of freshwater from river mixes with salt water transported, by tide, from the ocean.
Estuaries are the most productive water bodies in the world.
They are located at the lower end of a river and are subject to tidal fluctuations.
Most estuaries can be grouped into four geomorphic categories based on the physical processes responsible for their formation:
(1) rising sea level
(2) movement of sand and sandbars
(3) glacial processes
(4) tectonic processes.
Estuaries are either once or twice, daily washed by the seawater.
It has a free connection with open sea.
The complete salinity range from 0-35 ppt is seen from the head (river end) to the mouth (sea end) of an estuary.
It provides the shelter for some of the animals.
It is the most productive region as it receives the high amount of nutrients from fresh and marine water.
Estuaries are most heavily populated areas throughout the world, with about 60% of the world’s population living along estuaries and the coast.
Estuaries are typically classified by their geomorphological features or by water circulation patterns and can be referred to by many different names, such as bays, harbors, lagoons, inlets, etc
