Estuaries and Coastal Processes

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Course Title: Environmental Geology
Lecture Topic: Estuaries and Coastal

Processes
1
• Estuaries:
• An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of
brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into
it, and free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a
transition zone between river zone and the marine
environment.
• Formation of Estuaries:
• Initially, estuaries were formed by rising sea levels. As the sea
rose it drowned river valleys and filled glacial troughs, forming
estuaries. Once formed estuaries become trapped for the
sediments-mud, sand and gravel carried in by rivers, streams,
rain and run off and sand from the ocean floor carried in by
tides.
• Importance of estuaries:
• Estuaries are vital habitat for thousands of
marine species. Estuaries have been called the
nurseries of the sea because protected
environment and abundant food provides an
ideal location for fish and shellfish to
reproduce. Besides fish, many species of birds
depends on estuaries for food and nesting
areas.
• Classification of estuaries:
• Estuaries were classified on the basis of the geologic
features.
• Estuaries can be described by how they were
formed or by the characteristics of their circulation.
• This classification of estuaries is based on geologic
features. Classifications include coastal plain
estuaries, tectonic estuaries, bar-built estuaries, and
fjords.
Estuary Characteristics
• Salinity:
• An estuary is a place where sea water is measurably
diluted by fresh water from land drainage. The mixture of
fresh and salt water provides a variety of habitats for
animals and plants in the area. Salinity is a measurable
quantity:
• Fresh water:
• Fresh water is described as having 0-0.5 ppt (parts per
thousand) of salt dissolved in the water. Sea water is 20-35
parts per thousand. There are areas of the estuary which
are characteristically freshwater areas.
• Importance of estuaries in ecosystem:
• Estuaries are important natural places. They provide goods and services that
are economically and ecologically indispensable. Often called nurseries of the
sea ,estuaries provide vital nesting and feeding habitats for many aquatic plants
and animals.
• Why estuaries should be protected:

• One reason that estuaries are such productive ecosystems is that the water
filtering through them brings in nutrients from the surrounding watershed.
Estuarine habitats also protect streams, river channels and coastal shores from
excessive erosion caused by wind, water and ice.
• These unique environments serve as nursery and spawning grounds for
commercially important fish and shellfish; improve water quality by filtering
pollutants; act as buffers to protect shorelines from erosion and flooding; and
provide essential food and habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife.
• Estuaries have been called the "nurseries of the sea" because the protected
environment and abundant food provide an ideal location for fish and shellfish
to reproduce.
• Example of estuary:
• Most commercially important fish species spend some part of their
life cycle in estuaries. Salt wedge estuaries. The Mississippi River is
a particularly good example of a salt wedge estuary, since its size
allows the detailed observation of the current field even in the
narrow interface between the salt wedge and the freshwater layer.
•
• If estuary is damaged:
• If these estuaries are destroyed, salt marshes and inland habitats
adjacent to the estuary may become permanently damaged. Waves
can also dislodge plants and animals, or bury them with sediments,
while objects carried by the water can crush them.
• Coastal processes:
• Coastal and shelf sea processes include
wind, climate, waves, currents and tides.
These processes influence the distribution
of sediment, salinity and water borne particles
that shape the, seabed, water quality and
distribution of marine life.
• Causes of coastal processes:
•
• Coastal erosion, which is the wearing away of coastal land or
beaches, is mainly caused by the impact of waves along the
shoreline. This is accentuated during storms when waves are
large and with a lot of energy. Physical forces (wind, waves,
tides, currents, tsunamis, hurricanes, human-made structures,
etc.) drives the coastal processes, eroding, transporting and
depositing sediments in the coastal zone modifying the
geomorphology of coastal environment. There are three main
processes at work in the sea. These are erosion, transportation
and deposition.
• What is coastal erosion?
• Erosion is the wearing away of the land by the sea. This often involves
destructive waves wearing away the coast. There are five main processes
which cause coastal erosion. These are corrasion, abrasion, hydraulic action,
attrition and corrosion/solution.
• Corrasion is when waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl
them at the base of a cliff.
• Abrasion occurs as breaking waves which contain sand and larger fragments
erode the shoreline or headland. It is commonly known as the sand paper
effect.
• When waves hit the base of a cliff air is compressed into cracks. When the
wave retreats the air rushes out of the gap. Often this causes cliff material
to break away. This process is known as hydraulic action.
• Attrition is when waves cause rocks and pebbles to bump into each other
and break up.
• Corrosion/solution is when certain types of cliff erode as a result of weak
acids in the sea.
• What is coastal transportation?
• Transportation is the movement of material in the sea and along the
coast by waves. The movement of material along the coast is called
longshore drift.
• What is Longshore Drift?
• Longshore drift is the movement of material along the shore by wave
action. Longshore drift happens when waves moves towards the coast
at an angle. The swash (waves moving up the beach) carries material up
and along the beach. The backwash carries material back down the
beach at right angles. This is the result of gravity. This process slowly
moves material along the beach. Longshore drift provides a link
between erosion and deposition. Material in one place is eroded,
transported then deposited elsewhere.
• How does the sea transport material?
• Although longshore drift is the main process of transportation the
material moves in four different ways. These are:
• Traction - large material is rolled along the sea floor.
•
• Saltation - beach material is bounced along the sea floor.
•
• Suspension - beach material is suspended and carried by the waves. .
•
• Solution - material is dissolved and carried by the water.
• Deposition
• Deposition is when eroded material is dropped by constructive
waves. It happens because wave have less energy. Deposition creates
a range of landforms.

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Disclaimer/copyrights : In preparation of these slides, materials have been taken from

Course Title: Environmental Geology

Lecture Topic: Estuaries and Coastal

• Why estuaries should be protected:

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