InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Module 3: Coastal Systems: Landscapes and Processes > Estuaries > Estuary Formation
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Initial Publication Date: December 7, 2016

Estuary Formation

Different ways that estuaries can form include:

  1. Ria Estuaries: rising sea level fills an existing river valley such as what happened to create a special case of Ria known as the Coastal Plain Chesapeake Bay Estuary of the eastern U.S.A. (Figure 3.35).
  2. Tectonic Estuaries: tectonic deformation of the earth's crust, such as faulting, creates a localized depression that fills in with marine waters such as San Francisco Bay (Figure 3.36). Water depths in tectonic estuaries can be highly variable.
  3. Bar Built Estuaries: migrating barrier islands or spits extend across the mouth of a bay and restrict the amount of marine water entering the bay to create an estuary (Figure 3.36). They tend to be relatively shallow and typically less than 10m of water.
  4. Fjord Estuaries: glacially carved, U-shaped valleys that filled with marine water since the end of the last ice age (Figure 3.37, Figure 3.38). They can extend long distances 10s to 100s of kilometers and as deep as several hundred meters.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »