Marine

Environments:
Estuaries, Salt Marshes,
Mangrove Swamps, and
Coral Reefs

The Estuary
Freshwater rivers drain into the Ocean.
Where the freshwater and the salt water

meet and mix is called an estuary.

The mixture of water that is a
combination of salt and freshwater is
called Brackish water.
Estuaries are very productive
areas.many organisms lay their eggs
there.
Water is calm because they are
protected by Barrier Beaches.

Types of Estuary
Communities
Salt Marsh Community Marsh grasses
Controlled by tides
Have nutrient rich waters
Are considered the

nurseries of the estuary.

The Salt Marsh

The Mud Flat

Community
Has dark muddy sand.
No grasses.
Little or no aeration in the sand.
Considered the graveyards of the

estuary.
Mud Flats are caused by decomposing
bacteria turning the wastes In the sand
into a dark mud.
Decomposers cause decaying
organisms to produce H2S (foul smelling
odor).

Mud Flats

The Mangrove
Community
Found in warmer, tropical areas.
Inlets and bays are covered by

mangrove trees.
Mangrove swamps protect the
shore from erosion.
Mangrove swamps act like giant
sponges and absorb the impact of
storms and high waters.

A Mangrove
Swamp

The Coral Reef

The most spectacular of all the marine

environments.
Has the most biodiversity of all the
marine environments.
Found in tropical and sub-tropical zones.
Reefs are built from the sea floor by coral
polyps.
Reefs will grow up to the surface, but will
not grow out of the water.
Australias Great Barrier Reef is the
worlds largest natural made structure
(2000km), and contains over 1500 species
of fish.

 Each coral is unique in its shape

and color.
Coral Reefs are extremely
productive.
Coral Reefs are extremely fragile
and pieces of coral break off easily.
Many reefs are now in danger of
being destroyed because of over
fishing, diving, pollution, and poor
handling of educating the public on
the importance of maintaining the
vitality of coral reef populations.

Coral Reefs

Summary
An Estuary is where freshwater

and saltwater meet and mix.

Estuaries are very diverse and
productive areas.
Living organisms have special
adaptations to help them live in
the various marine environments.

HW
Read in the Text on Marine
Environments pages 7482.
Answer questions on page
82, #1-3.

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