The objective of this book is to review the physical and chemical characteristics of estuaries. The volume has been designed principally as a reference for scientists, but administers, managers, decision makers, and other professionals involved in some way with estuarine research can find value in the text.

Closed Sea weaves together a colorful history of whalers and pirates, Revolutionary patriots and loyalists, fishermen and loggers, iron masters and life saving crews, sportsmen and holiday makers. Filled with historical anecdote and keen observations of sea and shore, it is a compelling portrait of the Barnegat Bay region and its history. With a naturalist's eye and a sailor's experience, environmental historian Kent Mountford opens our eyes to the Shore's past, its shifting inlets, disappearing islands, dangerous tides and shoals. Moving inland, he documents the Pinelands environment and the industries it has supported over the centuries. Closed Sea tells the remarkable history of a fascinating place, a place of great beauty, danger and opportunity, a place that has cast its spell on generations of people. This book is published with support, in part, from the Ocean County Historical Society, the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program, and the Tuckerton Seaport.

This textbook covers the physical and chemical aspects of estuaries, the biology and ecology of key organisms, the flow of organic matter through estuaries, and human interactions, such as the environmental impact of fisheries on estuaries and the effects of global climate change on these important ecosystems. Each chapter will begin with basic concepts and then move on to describing applications and current practice. This new edition is being authored by a team of world experts from the estuarine science community.

The decision to build a nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland resulted in a Iandmark legal decision (Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee vs Atomic Energy Commission) and began one ofthe mostintensive long-term studies ever carried out in an American estuarine system. In the pages that follow we describe the major results and findings from studies conducted over more than a decade by scientists from The Academy of Natural Seiences of Philadelphia (ANSP). These studies were designed to assess the potential effects that operation ofthe Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) might have on the mid-portion of Chesapeake Bay. The approach taken was to study major biotic components of the system over an area and a time period sufficient to allow comparison of conditions between preoperational and operational periods within a sampling locality, and comparisons of conditions at reference sites with those at impact sites afterplant operations began. Elementschosen for detailed study included: species composition and production rates of major primary producers; water chemistry; zooplankton, benthos and finfish abundance and species composition; the abundance and growth rates of commercially important shellfish (clams, oysters and blue crabs); and the colonization sequences of invertebrates on artificial substrates.