EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -In estuaries, fresh water and salt water mix, forming a(n): a. algal bloom.

Detailed explanation-2: -In estuaries, the salty ocean mixes with a freshwater river, resulting in brackish water. Brackish water is somewhat salty, but not as salty as the ocean. An estuary may also be called a bay, lagoon, sound, or slough.

Detailed explanation-3: -Estuaries commonly function as nutrient traps, in which nutrients (e.g., N and P) and organic-reactive elements (e.g., many trace metals) become concentrated through a combination of sinking organic matter (i.e., the biological pump) and proximally directed flow of the deep layer (Fig. 1A; Shiller, 1996).

Detailed explanation-4: -Nutrients-especially nitrogen and phosphorus-are key water quality parameters in estuaries. Depending on their chemical forms (or species), nitrogen and phosphorus can have significant direct or indirect impacts on plant growth, oxygen concentrations, water clarity, and sedimentation rates, just to name a few.

Detailed explanation-5: -Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water-a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater.