The Power of Estuaries

Introduction

Water covers about 71% of the Earth's surface. Most of the water, about 97%, can be found in our oceans. The rest of the water can be found in glaciers, groundwater, freshwater lakes, inland seas & salt lakes, the atmosphere, and rivers.

Streams and rivers (shown on the map) serve as the primary conduits through which freshwater, sediments, and pollutants are transported from land to sea.

Research Questions

I became curious about how the waterways are linked and set out to answer the following research questions:

• 1Where are the primary points of connection between streams and rivers in the United States and the ocean?
• 2What are the main pollutants present in streams and rivers and do these pollutants affect ocean health?
• 3What are the sources of these pollutants and where are they located in relation to the streams and rivers?

Where Rivers Meet the Sea

Estuaries are where rivers meet the seas — where fresh and salt water mix. This mixture of fresh water draining from the land with the salty seawater is called brackish water.

Not only are the fresh water and salt water mixing, but the pollutants from the freshwater are also filtering into sea which then filters into our ocean — negatively impacting ocean health.

Sources of Pollution

Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution can come from sewage treatment plants, polluted runoff from crop land, urban and suburban areas, and industrial sources.

Ocean Acidification

The nitrogen and phosphorus can cause ocean acidification which can be measured by aragonite. Aragonite is the primary mineral in cool water marine environments. Aragonite saturation state is used to track ocean acidification.