The Physical Environment Clause Samples

The Physical Environment. Port ▇▇▇▇▇▇ is a long and deep fjord surrounded by mountains rising up to 5,000 ft peaks. The shoreline is generally rocky except in areas where sediment outwash from streams and glaciers has created deltas and tidal flats (Hameedi, 1988b). ▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (1969) estimated that more than half of the shoreline in Port ▇▇▇▇▇▇ consists of steep rocky beaches and cliffs, while about twenty percent consists of tidal mudflats, found mostly in the eastern Port and at outwashes from glacial streams. The remainder of the coast consists of gravel or broken rock beaches. Like most fjords, Port ▇▇▇▇▇▇ has steep walls and a flat bottom with depths of at least 200 m. In the deepest areas, water depths can be as much as 240 m (▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1979). The mouth of the Port is constricted by the ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Narrows and two ▇▇▇▇▇ extending across the bottom of the Narrows. The shallower sill is approximately half the depth of the Port basin. Colonell et al. (1988) suggested that the residence time for water in the Port is approximately four weeks, although flushing of the deeper waters may decrease in the summer when stratification limits deep circulation. Modeled simulations of the Port hydrodynamics calculated the residence time of water-borne pollutants in summer to be almost 7 weeks (Hameedi, 1988b). Although dissolved oxygen concentrations in the water column can be depressed during summer stratification, anoxia is not usually observed in Alaskan fjords such as Port ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (Hood and ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1973).