IMS 15 - Coastal Waters

Coastal Waters

Law of the Sea

-          1^st United Nations Conference on Sea Law

-          1958 @ Geneva, Swizerland

-          Continental shelf mineral mining by nearest country

-          Unwell defined shelf – 2^nd Law of Sea conference little progress

-          3^rd Law of Sea Conference treaty contents

-          Coastal nations jurisdiction

-          State sovereign territory; Include airspace & seabed

-          Foreign military & civilian ship for innocent passage

-          Contiguous Zone – limited control preventing custom infringement, fiscal, immigration, sanitary laws

-          Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) max 200 n.m. / 370.4 km sea outer limit to baseline

-          If continental shelf > 200 n.m., EEZ is 350 n.m. from shore

-          Internal water – landward of baseline with complete state jurisdiction (inc. archipelagic waters); innocent passage unallowed

-          Ship passage

-          Right of free passage for all vessel @ high sea & straits (international navigation)

-          Deep-ocean mineral resources

-          Private seabed exploitation under International Seabed Authority (ISA) by United Nations

-          Arbitration of disputes

-          UN Law of the Sae tribunal in treaty / ownership rights

-          42% oceans controlled by coastal nations

Coastal Ocean

·         Busy with life, commerce, recreation, fisheries, waste

·         Ship route, oil gas production, pollution (oil spill)

·         95% world fishery within EEZ (support 95% ocean life)

Salinity

·         Runoff x mix well with coastal seawater – form clear halocline

·         If water shallow, tidal mix water to isohaline

Estuaries

·         Partially enclosed coastal body of water; fresh water runoff dilutes seawater

·         River mouth, bays, inlets, gulfs

Estuary classification

·         By river flow (volume), tidal flow, winds, physical geography

·         Also influenced by Coriolis Force

·         Vertically Mixed Estuary

ü  Shallow; Net flow head to mouth always

ü  Salinity mixed uniformly; increases gradually to sea

·         Slightly Stratified Estuary

ü  Deeper; 2 layers

ü  Less saline, less dense upper river water & More saline, denser lower seawater

ü  Net surface freshwater flow to ocean; vice versa

·         Highly Stratified Estuary

ü  Upper salinity increase to ocean; lower salinity uniform throughout – strong halocline

·         Salt Wedge Estuary

ü  Deep & high volume river; river outflow > tidal volume

ü  X horizontal gradient @ surface; fresh surface throughout

ü  Horizontal salinity gradient @ depth – clear halocline throughout

Estuary

·         Breeding ground & protective nurseries for marine animals

·         Support shipping, logging, waste disposal

·         Threatened @ large expanding population

Coastal Wetlands

·         Fresh / coastal environment; along estuary / protected shores

·         Soil saturated with moisture permanently / seasonally

·         Saltwater / freshwater / brackish

·         Most important types: salt marshes & mangrove swamp

Salt Marshes & Mangrove Swamp

·         Intermittently submerged by seawater

·         Low O₂; high peat / organic

·         Salt Marshes

ü  From Equator - 65° latitude

ü  Upper coastal intertidal between land & brackish

ü  Halophytic salt-tolerant herb, grass, shrub

·         Mangrove Swamp

ü  < 30° latitude

ü  Halophytic trees

Wetland

·         High productivity

·         Nurseries for fish, shrimp, shellfish

·         Stopover points of migrating birds

Remove inorganic nitrogen compound & metal attached to clay-sized particle in mud