IV-3 



Chapter 1 

 THE ESTUARINE SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES 



Man uses and is influenced by the 

 whole world ocean, but that narrow 

 zone where the land containing his 

 civilization meets the sea is unique. 

 This is the point where man, the sea 

 his immemorial ally and adversary -- 

 and the land meet and challenge each 

 other. That narrow zone is the 



subject of this chapter (IV-1-1) 



The estuarine zone has many forms; nearly all are represented along 

 the coastline of the United States. These include the classic drowned 

 river mouth, exemplified by Delaware Bay and in greater variety by its 

 neighbor, Chesapeake Bay. There are the entrance cuts and deltas of 

 great rivers such as the Columbia and the Mississippi; there are the 

 marshlands of Georgia and the barrier island systems of North Carolina. 

 There are the coral formations of the Florida Keys and the fjords of 

 Alaska and Washington; there are the rocky coast o> Maine, the bluffs 

 of California, and the sandy shores of Texas. There is infinite 

 variety but there is also the common theme of the sea, the land, and 

 along much of the United States coastline -- man. 



