1. Chesapeake Bay Notes

2. Estuary: Body of water where fresh and salt water mixes Largest of the 130 estuaries in the United States

3. Size of the Chesapeake Bay: Pennsylvania NJ Volume: 15 Trillion Gallons 11,684 miles of shoreline Maryland Depth Range: 0-174 feet Average Depth: 21 feet DE Virginia 3.4 miles to 25 miles wide 200 miles in length

4. Watershed: An area of land that drains to a particular river, lake, bay or other body of water

5. Bay Creation - Meteor A meteor crashed, setting the stage for the bay to be formed The resultant crater is called the Exmore Crater

6. Bay Creation - Glaciers The movement and melting of the glacier during the last ice age caused the creation of the streams and rivers that make up the Chesapeake Bay

7. Salinity of the Bay: Salinity of the bay increases as you head south Freshwater comes in from the rivers so the top is essentially freshwater Increasing Salinity

8. Composition of Water: Sources of dissolved materials: Decomposition of dead organisms Live organisms releasing compounds directly Organic and inorganic materials enter through tributaries

9. Dissolved Gases: Dissolved oxygen is affected by temperature and salinity Dissolved carbon dioxide is necessary for plants and comes from respiration of organisms Nitrogen and phosphorus are also necessary for organisms, however, due to run-off they can be in poisonous concentrations

10. Food Web: Most energy and largest volume of organisms found at the bottom Less and less energy is transferred through each trophic level because it is used or lost as heat Contaminants ingested by each level get passed along in increasing amounts through the food web