How many estuary are in the world?
1,200 estuaries
Specifically, this database, the first to be designed at a global scale, contains over 1,200 estuaries (including some lagoon systems and fjords), in over 120 countries and territories (Alder 2003).
What is the size of estuary?
The size of an estuary depends on the shallowness of the slope and the size of the river(s) feeding the upstream end of the estuary. Thus, the largest estuaries are on the order of a million hectares and small streams may have less than a hectare.
What is the deepest estuary?
St. Lawrence maritime estuary
Among the deepest and largest estuaries in the world, the St. Lawrence maritime estuary extends nearly 250 km before it widens at Point-des-Monts into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This enclosed sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by Cabot Strait and the Strait of Belle-Isle.
What is the third largest estuary in the world?
Chesapeake Bay
Many sources describe Chesapeake Bay as the world’s third-largest estuary.
What is the US largest estuary?
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest of more than 100 estuaries in the United States. About half of the Bay’s water volume comes from salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. The other half drains into the Bay from its enormous 64,000-square-mile watershed.
What are the different types of estuaries in the world?
Geographical features such as reefs, islands, mud, and sand act as barriers from ocean waves and wind. Types of Estuaries. There are four different kinds of estuaries, each created a different way: 1) coastal plain estuaries; 2) tectonic estuaries; 3) bar-built estuaries; and 4) fjord estuaries.
Which is the shallowest part of the Thames Estuary?
The estuary is shallowest at its mouth, where terminal glacial moraines or rock bars form sills that restrict water flow. In the upper reaches of the estuary, the depth can exceed 300 m (1,000 ft).
Which is the largest estuarine reserve in Alaska?
Located on the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula in south central Alaska, Kachemak Bay is the largest unit in the National Estuarine Research Reserve system, covering 366,100 acres. Kachemak is a fjord-type estuary, where retreating glaciers carved a deep channel in the land reaching out into the Gulf of Alaska.
Where does the word estuary come from and what does it mean?
The word “estuary” is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary.