The Coastal Ocean

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The Coastal Ocean
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• Coastal waters support about 95 of total biomass
  in ocean
• Most commercial fish caught within 320 km (200 m)
  from shore
• Important also for shipping, oil and gas
  production, and recreation
• Many pollutants found here thats a problem!

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Characteristics of coastal waters

• Adjacent to land (to edge of continental shelf)
• Influenced by river runoff, wind, tides
• Salinity variable
• Freshwater runoff
• Winds
• Mixing by tides

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Characteristics of coastal waters

• Temperature variable
• Low-latitudes restricted circulation, very warm
• High-latitudes sea ice
• Mid-latitudes
• Seasonal changes
• Prevailing winds

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Types of coastal waters

• Estuary
• Partially enclosed coastal area with ocean water
  and freshwater (runoff) mixing mouths of rivers,
  bays, etc.
• Lagoon
• Shallow coastal water separated from ocean by
  barrier island
• Marginal sea
• Relatively large semi-isolated body of water

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Estuaries - Origin of estuaries

• Rising sea level drowns what was once land
• Coastal plain estuary
• Former river valley now flooded with seawater
• Fjord
• Former glaciated valley now flooded with seawater
• Bar-built estuary
• Lagoon separated from ocean by sand bar or
  barrier island
• Tectonic estuary
• Faulted or folded down-dropped area now flooded
  with ocean

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Estuaries - Classification of estuaries

• 4 types - Based on mixing of freshwater and
  saltwater
• Vertically mixed
• Shallow, low volume
• Salinity uniform
• Slightly stratified
• Deeper than previous
• Upper layer less salty lower layer more salty
• Estuarine circulation
• Highly stratified
• Deep, relatively strong halocline
• Salt wedge
• Deep, high volume
• Strong halocline
• Typical at mouths of deep, high volume rivers

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Lagoons

• Water isolated by barrier islands
• 3 main zones
• Freshwater zone
• Transition zone of brackish water
• Saltwater zone
• Hypersaline in arid regions

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Indian River Lagoon

• Well-mixed due to winds and shallow depths
• Seasonal changes in salinity, temperature,
  dissolved oxygen
• Most biologically diverse estuary in north
  americaover 4,000 species of plants and animals
• Threats habitat destruction, stormwater runoff,
  and invasive exotic species

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Marginal seas

• Mostly from tectonic events
• Ocean crust between continents, e.g.,
  Mediterranean Sea
• Behind volcanic island arcs, e.g., Caribbean Sea
• Shallower than ocean
• Connected to ocean

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Caribbean Sea

• On Caribbean plate defined by Greater and Lesser
  Antilles volcanic island arc
• Relatively shallow marginal sea deepest is
  Cancun Trough at 7,686 m (25,220 ft)
• Underlain by oceanic crust

http//woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/caribbe
an/images/PBATHY1.GIF
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Coastal Wetlands - Types of coastal wetlands

• Ecosystems that are saturated with water
• Swamps, tidal flats, coastal marshes, bayous
• Salt marsh
• Any latitude
• Mangroves
• Low latitude

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Characteristics of coastal wetlands

• Efficiently cleanse polluted water
• Absorb water from coastal flooding during storms
• Protect shores from wave erosion

http//soundwaves.usgs.gov/2008/03/WetlandLG.jpg
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Coastal Wetlands - Loss of coastal wetlands

• Half of U.S. coastal wetlands lost to development
  (housing, industry, agriculture)
• U.S. Office of Wetland Protection, 1986
• Minimize loss of wetlands
• Protect or restore wetlands

http//www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/factsheets/images/
glfs-coast-stress.jpg
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Marine pollution

• Any harmful substance or energy put into the
  oceans by humans
• Harmful to living organisms
• Standard laboratory bioassay concentration of
  pollutant that causes 50 mortality among test
  organisms
• Hindrance to marine activities (e.g., fishing)
• Reduction in quality of sea water

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Waste disposal in ocean

• Diluting pollutants with huge volume of ocean
  water
• Long-term effects not known
• Debate about dumping wastes in ocean
• None at all ??
• Some, as long as properly disposed and monitored
  ??

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Main types of marine pollution

• Petroleum
• Nutrient excess
• Sewage sludge
• Fertilizer runoff
• DDTs and PCBs
• Mercury
• Non-point-source pollution and trash
• Drainage from roads, canals, etc.

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DDT and PCBs

• Pesticide DDT and industrial chemicals PCBs
  (polychlorinated biphenyls)
• DDT pesticide that was widely used
• PCBs used in transformers and other areas of
  industry
• Widespread in oceans
• Persistent organic pollutants
• Toxic
• Long life dissolved in seawater
• Accumulated in food chain
• Bioaccumulation its happening in us, also!

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Bioaccumulation and biomagnification

• Bioaccumulation organisms concentrate pollutant
  from seawater
• Biomagnification organisms gain more pollutant
  by eating other organisms

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DDT

• Decline in bird populations and thin eggshells
• Long Island osprey
• California brown pelican
• DDT banned in U.S. in 1972
• Some marine bird populations rebounded

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Mercury and Minamata disease

• Methyl mercury toxic to most living organisms
• Chemical plants, Minamata Bay, Japan, released
  mercury in 1938
• By 1950 first reported ecological changes
• By 1953 humans poisoned
• Neurological disorder numbness, muscle
  weakness, paralysis, coma, congenital defects

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Non-point-source pollution and trash

• Not from underwater pipelines
• Hard to regulate
• For example, from storm drains
• Pesticides and fertilizers
• Road oil
• Trash

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Trash from dumping

• Some trash can be legally dumped far from shore
• Biodegradable (e.g., food) or
• Sinkable (e.g., glass, metal)
• Some trash cannot be dumped
• Plastic
• Lightweight (floats)
• Not easily biodegradable
• Plastic can incorporate pollutants, such as DDT
  and PCBs

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able.JPG
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It is up to us!

• Dont throw trash out your car window
• Dont leave trash on the beach
• Dont throw trash off the side of your boat
• Dont use fertilizers irresponsibly
• Dont just dump things down the drain without
  reading about proper disposal
• Get onto people you know that do this!
• Think of your kids and grandkids!

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Problems with Contaminants in Oceans

• Research into immunosuppression and reproductive
  problems in many species
• Chemicals that are banned in US and other
  countries are still used in others it is 1
  ocean, doesnt matter where it is dumped
• It will effect us all!

All drains lead to the ocean!
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Fig. 11.32a,b
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Misconceptions What have we learned that make
the following statements false?

• Science and technology can solve all of our
  problems.
• The Earth can absorb and neutralize any amount of
  waste and pollution over time.
• Dilution is the solution to the problem.
• Microorganisms are not important to human
  survival.
• Local people cannot improve their environments
  it is out of their hands.
• If we run out of oil and gas we will just find
  more.
• Earth is both an endless supply of resources and
  a limitless sink for the waste products of our
  society.

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Ocean Literacy Principles

• 1.d - Sea level is the average height of the
  ocean relative to the land, taking into account
  the differences caused by tides. Sea level
  changes as plate tectonics cause the volume of
  ocean basins and the height of the land to
  change. It changes as ice caps on land melt or
  grow. It also changes as sea water expands and
  contracts when ocean water warms and cools.
• 1.h - Although the ocean is large, it is finite
  and resources are limited.
• 5.f - Ocean habitats are defined by environmental
  factors. Due to interactions of abiotic factors
  such as salinity, temperature, oxygen, pH, light,
  nutrients, pressure, substrate and circulation,
  ocean life is not evenly distributed temporally
  or spatially, i.e., it is patchy. Some regions
  of the ocean support more diverse and abundant
  life than anywhere on Earth, while much of the
  ocean is considered a desert.
• 5.i - Estuaries provide important and productive
  nursery areas for many marine and aquatic species.

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Sunshine State Standards

• SC.6.E.6.1 - Describe and give examples of ways
  in which Earth's surface is built up and torn
  down by physical and chemical weathering,
  erosion, and deposition.
• SC.6.E.6.2 - Recognize that there are a variety
  of different landforms on Earth's surface such as
  coastlines, dunes, rivers, mountains, glaciers,
  deltas, and lakes and relate these landforms as
  they apply to Florida.
• SC.912.E.6.6 - Analyze past, present, and
  potential future consequences to the environment
  resulting from various energy production
  technologies.
• SC.912.L.17.2 - Explain the general distribution
  of life in aquatic systems as a function of
  chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity, and
  temperature.
• SC.912.L.17.3 - Discuss how various oceanic and
  freshwater processes, such as currents, tides,
  and waves, affect the abundance of aquatic
  organisms.
• SC.912.L.17.8 - Recognize the consequences of
  the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic
  events, climate changes, human activity, and the
  introduction of invasive, nonnative species.
• SC.912.L.17.11 - Evaluate the costs and benefits
  of renewable and nonrenewable resources, such as
  water, energy, fossil fuels, wildlife, and
  forests.
• SC.912.L.17.13 - Discuss the need for adequate
  monitoring of environmental parameters when
  making policy decisions.
• SC.912.L.17.16 - Discuss the large-scale
  environmental impacts resulting from human
  activity, including waste spills, oil spills,
  runoff, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and
  surface and groundwater pollution.
• SC.912.L.17.20 - Predict the impact of
  individuals on environmental systems and examine
  how human lifestyles affect sustainability.