Estuaries are eternally enriched. Their positions at the foot of
watersheds and their convenience as receiving bodies for the wastes
of cites, towns and farms results in continuous addition of
nutrients - those elements and compounds which are essential for
organic production. Such materials must be added to these complex
bodies of water to sustain production, since there is a net loss of
water and its contents to the oceans. Enrichment from land and the
ocean and the subsequent cycling of the original chemicals or their
derivatives contribute to the extraordinarily high values of
estuaries for human purposes. Many estuaries are able to assimilate
large quantities of nutrients despite the great fluctuations which
occur with variations in the flow from tributaries. The nutrients
can be stored, incorporated in standing crops of plants, released,
cycled and exported - and the system frequently achieves high
production of plants and and animals without creation of any
undesirable results of enrichment. Excessive enrichment with the
same elements and compounds can, however, be highly detrimental to
estuaries and their uses. Coastal cities are usually located on the
estuaries which provided a harbor for the- and which now receive
partially treated sewage and other wastes from the expanding
population and industrial activity. Conversion of woodlands to
agricultural use and the extensive application of fertilizers have
resulted in the flow of large quantities of nutrients down the hill
or slopes and eventually into the estuary.
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