11-15 



The Land 



The shape of the land along the land-sea interface goes far toward 

 determining what water movement and circulation patterns exist in 

 particular local areas and, consequently, how fast a particular 

 estuarine system will rid itself of pollutants. Within the general 

 compass of the estuarine regions discussed in the preceding section 

 there are different structural types which define patterns of water 

 movement typical of particular structures, no matter what the 

 external environment may be. 



Alaska presents the greatest variety of estuarine form and structure 

 of any of the estuarine regions. Nearly all kinds of systems 

 typical of other regions are found there. In addition, Alaska has 

 the only glaciated coast and most of the fjords found in the United 

 States. 



Characteristic of the North Atlantic region is a very irregular, 

 hilly coastline with deep water close inshore and long, narrow 

 embayments with open access to the sea. Estuarine systems within 

 the Chesapeake Bay region consist of a group of branched rivers 

 entering the Chesapeake Bay itself, which is in turn the former 

 valley of the Susquehanna River. 



In the Middle Atlantic region the estuarine zone consists primarily 

 of a few large drowned river valley embayments (e.g., New York 

 Harbor, Delaware Bay, Narragansett Bay) and some small marsh and 



