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 Join
us for EstuaryLIVE 2007celebrating NOAA in the Carolinas |
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Part
land, part sea...where fresh river water and salty sea
water mix. This is a world like no other. It's
called an estuary. And only now are we beginning
to recognize the beauty, the wealth and the mystery of
this world.
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An estuary is simply a partly-enclosed
coastal body of water. It has a free connection
with the open sea but its salty sea water is diluted with
fresh water from inland rivers and creeks. The fresh water
flowing into North Carolina’s estuaries begins in
the piedmont of the state. Rivers west of there flow through
states further south.
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Influenced by conditions on land
and in the atmosphere as well as the mixing of the fresh
and salt waters, estuarine areas are found
along the ocean’s edge around the
world. North Carolina has over two million acres of estuaries
separated from the ocean by our fringe of barrier islands.
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These narrow, ribbon-like patterns
of ocean beaches, sand dunes, maritime forests, salt marshes,
and tidal flats extend for hundreds of miles along the
coast…enabling the estuary to act as a "trap" for
nutrients washed down towards the sea. This "soup" provides
a home to many very different kinds of plants and animals…some
found nowhere else. Each of these plants and animals has
one thing in common. Every living thing in an estuary must
be able to adapt to an environment that
changes by the hour.
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Ocean tides push
salty sea water in and out of estuaries. Land that is covered
with cool water in the morning may be dry and hot in the
afternoon. Water that is salty in the afternoon may become
nearly fresh by nightfall as water flows out of the estuary
when tides fall and river water rushes in. Yet many plants
and animals survive here.
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Join
us as we explore an estuary on-line! A site of
the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
is a collection of saltmarshes, dredge spoil islands,
and tidal flats located on the North Carolina coast. Using
your computer you can see and ask questions about many
of the plants and animals that make estuaries special
places. Sign up now and plan to join us as we explore
an estuary live on the internet!
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www.estuarylive.org
was purchased and is maintained by Marine Grafics.
Photographs, videos and animations on this site are owned by their respective
copyright holders.
Estuary animals are drawn by and copyright 1999-2003 Dr. Cris Crissman.
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