Exam 10: Coasts, Beaches, and Estuaries

In order for an embayment to qualify as an estuary, it must have both ________ and ________.

If S_i is the average salt content of the incoming seawater and S_o is the average salt content of the exiting surface water in an estuary, the fresh water in the exiting mixed water is ________.

Beaches tend to be wider in winter and narrower in summer.

The circulation of water in an inverse estuary is characterized by ________.

A sand spit formed between an offshore island or rock and the mainland is called a(n) ________.

An estuary with a short-flushing time will usually have less carrying capacity for pollutants than an estuary with a long-flushing time.

In a temperate latitude, estuary ________.

Climate change can result in a worldwide ________ change in sea level.

The beach is the portion of the coastal zone that extends from the low water line to the coastline.

If the salinity of ocean water at the entrance to an estuary is 35 and 63 percent of the volume of water in the estuary is ocean water, what is the average salinity of the estuary?

If T_o equals the net flow rate of mixed surface water out of an estuary, the estuary volume divided by T_o yields the ________.

If, in an inverse estuary, the inflow of seawater of 35-percent salinity is 21 units per year and the outflow is 18 units per year, the salinity of outflowing water is ________.

Beaches gain sand under severe, high-energy winter waves and lose sand under the milder, low-energy summer waves.