Chesapeake Bay And The Bay - 1574 Words

About 18 thousand years ago, glacial sheets from the last ice age begin to melt (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). As the glaciers melted the large volume of water began to raise sea levels. The rising seas levels engulfed the coast and flooded the Susquehanna river (â€Å"Geological History† n.d.). Once the seas levels have risen, the temperatures continued to rise changing the landscape. So â€Å"oak, maple, hickory, and other hardwood species started to appear† (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). Once the temperature increases even more hardwood forests and wetlands are created. As even more of the glaciers melt it floods the Susquehanna river more and it even floods the Potomac, James, and York rivers pouring into the Atlantic Ocean creating the Bay’s†¦show more content†¦The Bay is fed by 48 major rivers and 100 small tributaries draining a 64,000 square mile basin (â€Å"Geological History† n.d.). The Bay has a width of four miles near Aberdeen, Mary land to thirty miles near Cape Charles, Virginia (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). The average depth of the bay is 21 feet with troughs as deep as 174 feet deep (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). The main rivers of the Chesapeake Bay is the Susquehanna, Potomac, James, Rappahannock, Chester, Nanticoke, Patuxent, and the Choptank rivers (Sprague et al 2000). The main rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed send about 51 billion gallons of freshwater into the Bay each day (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). These rivers are homes to many fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and other animals. Not only do aquatic animals live in these rivers, plenty of aquatic plants live there too (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). There are many factors that could affect the health of the Chesapeake Bay including litter, debris, sediment pollution, chemical contaminants, and any man made objects (Chesapeake Bay Program n.d.). Any litter and debris will work its way up to the Bay from the rivers and smother any grass beds along with bottom dwelling creators and add chemical contaminants to the water. Any excess nutrients that come from urban runoff or vehicle emissions will cause harmful algae to grow which blocks sunlight and does not allow plants to grow due to low oxygen dead zonesShow MoreRelatedThe Chesapeake Bay And The Bay1875 Words   |  8 Pages â€Æ' The Chesapeake Bay, which derives from the Algonquin word Chesepiooc meaning â€Å"great shellfish bay†, has been around for a very long time. Approximately 35 million years ago, a rare bolide (a comet- or asteroid-like object) hit what is now the lower tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, creating a 55-mile-wide crater. The bolide created what geologists call the â€Å"Exmore Crater,† which they believe was as large as Rhode Island and as deep as the Grand Canyon. 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So skip the fertilizer until fall, because once they’re gone, what’sRead MoreThe War Of 1812 And The Chesapeake Bay2639 Words   |  11 Pagesthe Chesapeake Bay On March 3rd, 1813, the first British ships of war appeared on the Chesapeake Bay. For two years the Chesapeake would be the scene of numerous amounts of battles. Some would be lost in anonymity, but others would make history. But first, why did the British come? We were at war almost thirty years before, so how did it come upon these two superpower nations to collide once again? A few answers to these questions will put the war of 1812 and the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay in itsRead MoreChesapeake Bay Prevention Essay924 Words   |  4 PagesPrevention is necessary to control many problems in the Chesapeake Bay. Prevention can range from something as big as a government issue or as small as a single person helping out. 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