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An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.[1] Estuaries are often associated with high levels of biological diversity. Estuaries are typically the tidal mouths of rivers (aestus is Latin for tide), and they are often characterized by sedimentation or silt carried in from terrestrial runoff and, frequently, from offshore. They are made up of brackish water. Estuaries are often given names like bay, sound, fjord, etc. The terms are not mutually exclusive. As ecosystems, estuaries are under threat from human activities such as pollution and overfishing. Estuaries are marine environments whose pH, salinity, and water levels vary, depending on the river that feeds the estuary and the ocean from which it derives its salinity (oceans and seas have different salinity levels). The time it takes an estuary to completely cycle is called its flushing time.[2]
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