Aquarium Crash Course Coastal Environment PDF

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Chapter 12→ will be helpful for the aquarium trip Crash Course Chapters 11-14 ● Trophic Levels, food chains and the food web ○ Trophic Level → the position of an organism in a food chain ■ Primary producers → sunlight ■ Herbivores → plants ■ The first level of carnivorous consumers ● herring ■ Second level carnivorous ● salmon ■ Third level consumers ● Tuna ○ Food Chain → sequence of organisms in which each is food for the next higher member of the sequence ○ Food Web → complex interaction of multiple food chains?? ■ Complex for 2 reasons ● 1. Some animals are omnivores ● 2. Organisms trophic level can change as it matures ● Two Basic Requirement for LIfe ○ Energy source ○ Nutrient source ■ Availability control amount of life we observe in the ocean and where we observe it ■ Factors vary with location and oceanographic factors: latitudes, distance from the shoreline ● Primary Producers → base of the food chain ○ 2 potential energy sources ■ Photosynthesis ■ Production of organic molecules ■ 2. Chemosynthesis ● Production of organic molecules with energy from inorganic substances; methane, sulfur ○ Get their nutrients from the seawater ○ Redfield Ratio: 106:16:1 → C:N:P

● Phytoplankton → most common primary producer in the ocean Trophic Level Relationships → primary consumers eat primary producers → secondary consumers eat primary consumers → Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers Environmental Zones: Pelagic vs Benthic ● Pelagic → the water environment ○ Neritic zone → near coastal, above the continental shelf ○ Oceanic zone → open ocean away from the direct influence of land ■ Aka pelagic zone ○ Also by depth ■ Photic zone → enough for sunlight ■ Disphotic zone → enough light to see, not enough for photosynthesis ■ Aphotic Zone → not enough light to see ● Benthic → associated with the seafloor ○ Could live in the seafloor like a clam ○ In like a crab ○ On the seafloor like a fish ○ Supralittoral Zone → splash zone ○ **Littoral Zone → intertidal zone ■ Know this one, the most common zone even in non-oceanographic zone ○ Sublittoral zone → limit of low tide to continental shelf ○ Bathyal, abyssal, and hadal zones → depths of complete darkness Nekton ● 5000 species capable of swimming freely through sea ● Subgroups ○ Fish ○ Invertebrates → small group includes squid ○ Reptiles

○ Birds ○ Mammals ■ Megaptera Novaeangliae (humpback whales) ■ Sea turtles ■ Penguins

Benthos ● Living on the seafloor ● A diverse group of algae and animals ● 80% epifauna → live on the seafloor ● 20% are infauna → live in the seafloor BACK TO COASTAL ENVIRONMENT Erosion vs Deposition Erosion → breaking down of rock water,, wind, ice, and gravity Deposition → dropping of sediment in a new place River deltas 2 Basic types of coasts 1. Primary Coasts a. Owe their character and appearance to non-marine processes b. Created by i. Erosion ii. Deposition iii. Volcanic iv. Plate tectonics c. Erosional Examples i. RIA = former river valley d. Depositional Examples i. Rivers; nile delta ii. rivers are the primary means of getting sediment to beaches iii. Dunes → 2. Secondary Coasts a. Erosion → due to waves/ currents i. ii.

Regular cliff coasts = coast made straighter by erosion Irregular cliff coasts = Coasts made less straight by erosion

1. sea stacks → small rock islands b. Deposition → sediments by waves i.

Barrier coasts → shallow coast with abundant sediment 1. Barrier islands → above water sand bar separated

from mainland by a lagoon 2. Sand spits ii. Beach plains, strand plain iii. Mudflats and c. Alteration by marine plants and/or animals d. Built by marine organisms i. Coral reef coasts 1. Shallow, warm water surrounding a landmass 2. Build a fringing reed ii. Mangrove coasts 1. Low-lying coasts in warm climates 2. Grow in shallow-water, extend the coastline Anatomy of Beach ● Beach → sand and sediment lying along the shore, as well as the sediment, carried along the shore ● Beach profile is perpendicular to ● Backshore → dry region, submerged only in storms ○ Berm (low terrace and berm crest) ● Foreshore → high and low water shorelines Offshore → from beyond low tide level To the base of waves Troughs Bars and barrier islands Berms ○ Low terrace ○ Formed by…? ● Seasonal Beach changes ○ Pulled off of the beach during winter ○ Pulled on the beach during summer ● Troughs and Bars ○ Seaward of low-tide terrace, offshore ○ Toughs and sand bard run parallel to the coast ● ● ● ● ●

○ Change seasonally with sand input and output ○ Bars can accumulate enough sediment to break the water surface and have vegetation ● Beach Dynamics ○ Dynamic Equilibrium → the supply equals the loss ○

Punctuated equilibrium → forces interact with each other

then sudden jump to new ● Sediment Transport ○ Beaches = dynamic ■ Can be in equilibrium ○ Waves lead to longshore drift of sand. Sand goes up the beach at an angle, pulled straight back by gravity ○ Human structures cn interrupt the longshore drift, leading erosion and deposition ○ Sand pushed onto beach at straight angle and then pulled back...