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Article: Estuary
- Article from:
- World of Earth Science
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Estuary
Estuaries are unique and complex environments located between
oceans
and river mouths. As
freshwater
flows into the sea from land, it dilutes the salty
water
in a small
area
around the shore. This relatively small space is the site of sediment build-up resulting from fluvial (stream or river)
erosion
along the riverbanks. The organic sediments and brackish (slightly salty, but undrinkable) water make a unique environment that supports a diverse community of plants and animals. The sediments themselves also form characteristic types of deposits and bed forms (the appearance of the horizontal layers of
sand
) that are easily seen in cross-section.
It is well known that
...