Estuary — Science definition
A partly enclosed coastal area where fresh river water mixes with salt water, creating brackish, nutrient-rich, highly productive habitat.
Where it is taught
- Biomes & Aquatic Systems — Ecology, Populations & Biodiversity, Physics & Environmental Science, Grade 12
In use
Along coasts, shallow, nutrient-rich waters host coral reefs — dazzlingly diverse 'rainforests of the sea' — and estuarys, where rivers meet the ocean and the mix of freshwater nutrients with sunlit shallows makes them exceptional nurseries for fish and shellfish.
Biomes & Aquatic Systems