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1.What 3 types of water are in the Bay ?
2.Name the Rivers that flow into the Bay.
3.How and when was the Bay formed ?
4. Can you see any signs of rising water along the coastline or Islands ? and why do you think this is happening ?
5.A new change to the guidelines allows me to require a photo. Take a picture of you or a personal item at the site. WE LIKE PICTURES !!
The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary lying inland from the Atlantic Ocean, and surrounded by the North American mainland to the West, and the Delmarva Peninsula to the east. It is the largest such body in the contiguous US. The northern bay is within Maryland, the southern portion within Virginia, and is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the bay's 64,299-square-mile drainage basin, which covers parts of six states ,New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and all of Washington D.C.
The bay is approximately 200 miles long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean. It is 2.8 miles wide at its narrowest and 30 miles at its widest. Total shoreline including tributaries is 11,684 miles. Average depth is 21 feet , reaching a maximum of 174 feet. The bay is spanned twice, in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Sandy Point to Kent Island and in Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (which is where you are now) connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles.
Geology and formation :
The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary to the North Atlantic, lying between the Delmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west.
It is the ria, A ria is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley AKA the Susquehanna River, meaning that it was where the river flowed when the sea level was lower. The Laurentide Ice Sheet never reached as far south as the northernmost point on the bay. North of Baltimore, the western shore borders the hilly Piedmont region of Maryland; south of the city the bay lies within the state's low-lying coastal plain, with sedimentary cliffs to the west, and flat islands, winding creeks and marshes to the east. The large rivers entering the bay from the west have broad mouths and are extensions of the main ria for miles up the course of each river.
The bay's geology, its present form, and its very location were created by a bolide impact event at the end of the Eocene ,about 35.5 million years ago, forming the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and the Susquehanna River valley much later.
A bolide impact event Means that an Asteroid or Large Comet Crashed into the Earth at this point and blasted an enormous crater into the continental shelf.
The crater is now approximately 124 Miles southeast of Washington, D.C., and is buried 300-500 meters beneath the southern part of Chesapeake Bay and the peninsulas of southeastern Virginia.
The bay was formed starting about 10,000 years ago when rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age flooded the Susquehanna River valley.
Parts of the bay, especially the Calvert County, Maryland, coastline, are lined by cliffs composed of deposits from receding waters millions of years ago. These cliffs, generally known as Calvert Cliffs, are famous for their fossils, especially fossilized shark teeth which are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs. Much of the bay is shallow. At the point where the Susquehanna River flows into the bay, the average depth is 30 feet , although this soon diminishes to an average of 10 feet southeast of the city of Havre de Grace, Maryland, to about 35 miles just north of Annapolis. On average, the depth of the bay is 21 feet , including tributaries; over 24 percent of the bay is less than 6 ft deep.
Because the bay is an estuary, it has fresh water, salt water and brackish water.
The largest rivers flowing directly into the bay, from north to south, are: Susquehanna River: Patapsco River; Chester River; Choptank River; Patuxent River; Nanticoke River; Potomac River; Pocomoke River; Rappahannock River; York River; James River. Another river flowing into Chesapeake Bay is the Wicomico River, not to be confused with the tributary of the Potomac River.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is little awareness however that the rapidly rising sea level within the bay is having a dramatic than wide ranging affect. Islands once populated in colonial time and during the past century have disappeared actually been submerged by the rising water and sure erosion. Expanding wetlands are claiming Lowline communities on Smith Island and Tangier Island as well as along the coast .
