A.  Substrate type

1.  consolidated vs. unconsolidated
2.  young vs. mature

B.  Energy:  high vs. low wave activity/impact
C.  landform type

1.  cliff (steep, vertical)
2.  shore platform (horizontal or sloping)
3.  limestone (porous, irregular)

D.  Interactions between:  dilation upward as E increases

3.  Picture:  15 M Cliff,Camden Hills Maine
4.  Picture:  Cobble Type Beach = High energy wave actionCamden Hills, Maine
5.  Picture:  Unconsolidated sediments: Sandy Hook, NJ
6.  Graphic: Profile of a typical coastal zone ecosystem

7.  Estuaries

A.  Definition

1.semi-enclosed coastal bodies of water having a free connection with the open sea and being diluted by freshwater from land drainage
2.  young & ephemeral:  100ís to 1000ís of years only due to sedimentation, movement of rivers
3.  fluctuation of abiotic factors: seasonally, tidally and periodically

a.  high nutrients at upper end due to terrestrial runoff.
b.  high seasonal temperature fluxuations due to shallow depth
c.  high salinity variation due to influence between fw inflow and tidal sw backflow
d.  hypersaline conditions (>35 ppt) may occur due to high evaporation rates: Baja, Laguna Madre

B.  Regions

1.  lower = maritime
2.  middle = brackish, salt & fw mix
3.  upper = fluvial, dominated by fw but show tidal flux

C.  Types

1.  drowned river valleys - 1o type due to rise in sea level
2.  bar-built estuaries - formed from longshore transport of sediment at the mouth of a river
3.  fjords - glacier cuts drowned
4.  deltaic - large amounts of sediments

D.  Important Communities

1.  salt marshes
2.  mangroves

Primary Limiting Factor for Plant Growth!!!!!
1.  Penetration & Absorbance

a.  What is the profile of the sunís EM spectrum reaching sea level?

1.  3 % UV (290 - 390 nm)
2.  52% Vis (390-760 nm)
3.  45% IR (760-3000 nm)

b.  What happens to the radiation once it hits the water?

1.  absorbed (conversion of radiant E to heat)
2.  reflected & scattered
3.  transmitted

10.  Graphic:  Fig. 2.7:  What wavelengths are most attenuated?
11.  Energy - How much light is this?

typically measure PAR = photosynthetically active radiation, 400 - 700 nm.  How do we know this is PAR?

Shallow, tropical community at mid day = 2500 µM photons m-2 s-1

Clear atoll, 140 m deep =25 µM m-2 s-1, with a calcarious green alga population

Max depth 268m, usually no more than 200 m

• compensation limit:  CO2 fixed = CO2 respired
• typically at 1% of surface light
• What other factors determine light penetration?

1.  gelbstoff  or yellow stuff = dissolved organic and humic materials from terrestrial runoff
2.  suspended particles, sediments from bottom
• water classification by optical characteristics

1.  oceanic: I, II, III
2.  coastal: 1-9

14.  How is light measured?

A. irradiance (W m-2) - radiometer or a quantum meter
B.  photon fluency (µmol photons m-2 s-1)
C.  Energy (foot-candles or lumens)

Remember => a mol of photons
= 6.02 X 1023 photons

15.  Temperature

• effects: all levels of biological organization
• example:  Q10 - a 10oC change in T = 2X change in enzymatic activity . . . Why?
• frost tolerance determines mangrove distribution - where there are regular frosts, only salt marsh.
• In Florida, Tampa Bay is N limit for red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), but none grow in Texas on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mexico.  Why?

• b.  electrical resistance -> conductivity meter
• c. infrared detector (IR) -> surface, coastal zone color scanner, remote sensing
• c.  units
• 1.  Temperature = oC - Celsius, oK (=+273 oC)
• 2.  Heat = calories, 1 cal = heat to raise 1 g of H2O, 1oC

A.  gases and ions diffuse 10K slower in water than air
B.  H2O movement increases amount available to a plant
C.  Boundary layers form due to slowly moving seawater surrounding plants.