Abstract
Estuaries are characterized by the gradient of salinity in a semi-enclosed coastal system. A working classification for drowned river estuaries has been developed and is based on the dominance of certain terms in the salt balance equation. Tidal and wind energy, as well as freshwater flow and density gradients, are responsible for mixing. Suspended and bottom sediment distribution may be characterized for each estuarine type. These sediments are of exceptional importance to the routes and fates of nutrients and other chemical materials. Although particular estuaries are transient in geological or evolutionary time spans, the estuarine environment has been common through a long geologic time, resulting in the evolution of a group of organisms uniquely capable of using the salinity gradient to a competitive advantage. These species, well adapted to the rigorous estuarine environment, frequently produce high standing crops and biomass from a small number of species. The range of nutrient inputs to the estuarine system is reviewed, along with the major nutrient processes and pathways which operate internally. Particularly successful models of nutrient movement are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Basan, P.B. and R.W. Frey. 1977. Actual paleontology and neoichology of salt marshes near Sapelo Island, Georgia. In: Crimos, P.T. and J.C. Harper, (eds.)., Trace Fossils, Seal House Press, Liverpool, p. 41–70.
Belknap, D.F. and J.C. Kraft. 1977. Holocene relative sea level change and coastal stratigraphic units on the northwest flank of the Baltimore Canyon geosyncline. J. Sed. Petrol. 47: 610–629.
Bennekom, A.J. Van, W.W.C. Giekes, and S.B. Tijssen. 1975. Eutrophication of Dutch coastal waters. Proc. Roy. Soc. London Series B, 169: 359–374.
Bennekom, A.J. Van, G.W. Berger, W. Helder, and R.P.V. DeVries. 1978. Nutrient distribution in the Zaire Estuary and River Plume. Neth. Jour. Sea. Res. 12: 296–323.
Biggs, R.B. 1970. Sources and distribution of suspended sediments in northern Chesapeake Bay. Marine Geology 9: 187–201.
Boon, J.D. 1978. Suspended solids transport in a salt marsh creek - an analysis of errors. In B. Kjerfve (ed.), Estuarine Transport Processes. U. of S. Carolina Press, p. 147–160.
Bowden, K.F. 1978. Mixing processes in estuaries. In Kjerfe, B. (ed.), Estuarine Transport Processes, U. South Carolina Press, p. 11–36.
Boyle, E.A. 1974. On the chemical mass balance in estuaries. Geochim, Cosmochim. Acta. 38: 1719–1728.
Bricker, D.P., III. and B.N. Troup. 1975. Sediment water exchange in Chesapeake Bay. In Cronin, L.E. (ed.), Estuarine Research 1: 3–27. Academic Press, New York.
Carspenter, J.H., W.L. Bradford, and V. Grant. 1975. Processes affecting the composition of estuarine waters. In Cronin, L.E. (ed.), Estuarine Research 1: 188–214. Academic Press, New York.
Carpenter, J.H., D.W. Prtichard, and R.C. Whaley. 1969. Observations of eutrophication and nutrient cycles in some coastal plain estuaries. In Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, and Correctives, p. 210–221. Nat. Acad. Sci., Washington, D.C.
Correll, D.A., M.A. Faust, and D J. Severn. 1975. Phosphorus flux and cycling in estuaries. In Cronin, L.E. (ed.), Estuarine Research, 1: 108–136. Academic Press, New York.
Cronin, L.E. and A J. Mansueti. 1971. The biology of the estuary. In Douglas, P.A. and R.H. Stroud (eds.), A Symposium on the Biological Significance of Estuaries. Sport Fishing Inst., Washington, D.C. p. 14–39.
Duncan, W.H. 1974. Vascular halophytes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America north of Mexico. In Reimold, R.J. and W.H. Queen (eds.), Ecology of Halophytes. Academic Press, New York. p. 23–50.
Fanning, K.A. and V.I. Maynard, 1978. Dissolved boron and nutrient in the mixing plumes of major tropical rivers. Neth. Jour. Sea Res. 12: 345–354.
Frey, R.W. and P.B. Basan. 1978. Coastal salt marshes. In Davis, R.A. (ed.), Coastal Sedimentary Environments. Springer-Verlag, New York, p. 101–170.
Gardner, L.R. and W. Kitchens. 1978. Sediment and chemical exchanges between salt marshes and coastal waters. In Kjerfve, B. (ed.), Estuarine Transport Processes. U. of S. Carolina Press, Columbia, S.C., p. 191–208.
Garside, C., T.C. Malone, O.A. Roels, and B.A. Sharfstein. 1976. An evaluation of sewage-derived nutrients and their influence on the Hudson estuary and New York Bight. Est. Coast Mar. Sci. 4: 281–289.
Gross, M.G., M. Karweit, W.B. Cronin, and J.R. Schubel. 1978. Suspended sediment discharge from the Susquehanna River to Northern Chesapeake Bay, 1966–1976. Estuaries 162: 106–110.
Haven, D.S. and R. Morales-Alamo. 1966. Aspects of biodeposition by oysters and other invertebrate filter feeders. Limnol. and Oceanogr. 11: 487–498.
Ianviello, J.P. 1977. Tidally induced residual currents of estuaries of constant breadth and depth. J. Mar. Res. 35 (4): 755–786.
Jaworski, N.A., D.W. Lear and O. Villa, 1972. Nutrient management in the Potomac Estuary. In Likens, G.E. (ed.), Nutrients and Eutrophication. Amer. Soc. Limnol. and Oceanogr., p. 246–273.
Kramer, J.R., S.E. Herbes, and H.E. Allen. 1972. Phosphorus, analysis of water, biomass, and sediment. In Nutrients in Natural Waters. p. 51–100. Wiley, New York, 457 p.
Laird, B. (ed.) 1976. The effects of tropical storm Agnes on the Chesapeake Bay estuarine system. Chesapeake Research Consortium, Pub. 54. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD. 639 p.
Liss, P.S. 1976. Conservative and nonconservative behavior of dissolved constituents during estuarine mixing. In Burton, J.D. and P.S. Liss (eds.), Estuarine Chemistry, Academic Press, p. 93–130.
McCarthy, J.J., W.R. Taylor and J.L. Taft. 1975. The dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in the open waters of Chesapeake Bay. In Church, T.M. (ed.), Marine Chemistry of the Coastal Environment, p. 664–681, Amer. Chem. Soc. Symposium Series, Vol. 18.
MacDonald, K.B. 1977. Plant and animal communities of Pacific North American salt marshes. In Chapman, V.J. (ed.), Wet Coastal Ecosystems. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 167–191.
Peterson, D.H., T.J. Conomos, W.W. Broenkow, and E.P. Sceivani. 1975. Processes controlling the dissolved silica distribution in San Francisco Bay. In Cronin, L.E. (ed.), Estuarine Research, 1: 153–187. Academic Press, New York.
Prtichard, D.W. 1955. Estuarine circulation patterns. Proc. Am. Soc. Civil Eng. 81, Separate No. 717.
Qasim, S.Z. 1979. Production in some tropical environments. In Dunbar, M.J. (ed.), Marine Production Mechanics, p. 31–70, Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 338 p.
Rattray, M., Jr., and C.B. Officer. 1979. Distribution of a nonconservative constituent in an estuary with application to the numerical simulation of dissolved silica in the San Francisco Bay. Est. and Coastal Mar. Sci. 8: 489–494.
Ryther, J.H. and W.M. Dunstan. 1971. Nitrogen, phosphorus and eutrophication in the coastal marine environment. Science 171: 1008–1013.
Schubel, J.R. 1971. Estuarine circulation and sedimentation. In The Estuarine Environment, published by Amer. Geol. Inst., Washington, D.C.
Schubel, J.R., W.R. Taylor, V.E. Grant, W.B. Cronin, and M. Glendening. 1976. Effects of Agnes on the distribution of nutrients in upper Chesapeake Bay. In Laird, B.E. (ed.), The Effects of Tropical Storm Agnes on the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine System. Chesapeake Research Consortium, Pub. 54, p. 311–319, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, MD.
Shakelton, N.J. and N.D. Opdyke. 1973. Oxygen isotope and paleomagnetic stratigraphy of equitorial core V25-238. Quaternary Res. 3: 39–55.
Sholkovitz, E.R., E.A. Boyle, and N.B. Price. 1978. Removal of dissolved humic acids and iron during estuarine mixing. Earth and Planet. Sci. Newsletter 40: 130–136.
Simpson, H.J., D.E. Hammond, B.L. Deck, and S.C. Williams. 1975. Nutrient budgets in the Hudson Estuary. In Church, T.M. (ed.), Marine Chemistry in the Coastal Environment. Amer. Chem. Society Series, Vol. 18.
Van der Eijk, E.M. 1979. Nutrient concentrations in the Rhine River, Wadden Sea, and North Sea. In Marine Pollution Mechanics, Dunbar, M.J. (ed.), p. 31–70, Cambridge Univ. Press, London 338 p.
Wollast, R. and F. DeBroen. 1971. Study of the behavior of dissolved silica in the estuary of the Scheldt. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 35: 613–620.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 The Humana Press Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Biggs, R.B., Cronin, L.E. (1981). Special Characteristics of Estuaries. In: Neilson, B.J., Cronin, L.E. (eds) Estuaries and Nutrients. Contemporary Issues in Science and Society. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5826-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5826-1_1
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-5828-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5826-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive