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A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
The most widely accepted definition is: "a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which seawater is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage". [1] However, this definition excludes a number of coastal water bodies such as coastal lagoons and brackish seas.
Organisms that live freely at the surface, termed neuston, include keystone organisms like the golden seaweed Sargassum that makes up the Sargasso Sea, floating barnacles, marine snails, nudibranchs, and cnidarians. Many ecologically and economically important fish species live as or rely upon neuston.
Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term marine comes from the Latin mare, meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one or more living species. [1] The marine environment supports many kinds of these habitats. Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ...
The definition of coasts varies. Marine scientists think of the "wet" (aquatic or intertidal) vegetated habitats as being coastal ecosystems (including seagrass, salt marsh etc.) whilst some terrestrial scientists might only think of coastal ecosystems as purely terrestrial plants that live close to the seashore (see also estuaries and coastal ...
Tropical white sand: On tropical islands, the sand is composed of calcium carbonate from the shells and skeletons of marine organisms, like corals and mollusks, as found in Aruba. [4] Pink coral sand: Like the above, is composed of calcium carbonate and gets its pink hue from fragments of coral, such as in Bermuda and the Bahama Islands. [4]
Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e. coastal geomorphology, climatology and oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and history) of the coast.
From shallow waters to the deep sea, the open ocean to rivers and lakes, numerous terrestrial and marine species depend on the surface ecosystem and the organisms found there. [ 1 ] The ocean's surface acts like a skin between the atmosphere above and the water below, and hosts an ecosystem unique to this environment.