The bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world. It is approximately 200 miles long and contains more than 18 trillion gallons of water, part of the Atlantic Ocean and part of the 150 streams, streams and rivers that flow into its watershed. The bay contains about 18 trillion gallons of water. That amount of water would fill more than fifty billion bathtubs by the edge.
The distinctive geographical formation of the bay is the result of the collision of a meteor that exploded on the Earth's surface and dates back 35.5 million years ago. The meteor is said to have hit the lower end of the current Delmarva Peninsula and created a large crater in the form of a depression that eventually caused nearby bodies of water and valleys to drain and accumulate. In addition, movement in these waterways also caused erosion and the movement of sediments to form the shape of the bay. The Chesapeake Bay ecosystem affects the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and foods that we eat.
Its wetlands protect communities from extreme weather events, such as erosion, floods and storm surges. And the trees that extend from the shores of the bay and the forests refresh our communities. As an interconnected system, the health of the Bay Area affects the health of regions around the world, including the people who live in them. Today, Chesapeake is a unique combination of rural and urban centers, providing its citizens with excellent schools, recreational and cultural facilities, and strong municipal leadership as the city continues to grow and meet the challenges that await it in the 21st century.
An estuary is a body of water where saltwater (from the ocean) and fresh water mix on a shoreline. Chesapeake Bay is the second largest estuary in the world (the San Lorenzo waterway wins the honor of being the largest). Chesapeake Bay has a navigable surface of 5,000 square miles fed by a drainage basin of 64,300 square miles with approximately 12,000 miles from the coast. This means endless places to sail, rent day trips, overnight stays, week trips and much more.
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It extends from north to south from the mouth of the Susquehanna River to the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most productive estuaries in the world, with more than 3,600 species of animals and plants. The bay provides vitally important habitats for wildlife, many recreational opportunities for people, and is an important fishery on which both people and wildlife depend.
Every year, new parking lots, driveways, roofs and other hardened surfaces from urbanization turn the land of the Chesapeake Bay region from being a large green filter to a gray, hard funnel. Chesapeake Bay plays an extremely important role in the economies of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, in addition to the ecosystem. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which connects Virginia's east coast to its mainland (in the Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake metropolitan areas), is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long; it has trestle bridges and two two-mile-long (3.2 km) sections of tunnels that allow unimpeded transportation; the bridge is supported by four 5.25-acre (21,200 m) artificial islands. Chesapeake Bay is in danger of becoming a dead zone due to increased nutrient pollution and climate change caused by human development in the region. The tide forecasts published by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are a good example of how different Chesapeake Bay sites experience different tides (see the figure on the right).
The millions of people who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have left their mark on their lands and waters. In the 1970s, Chesapeake Bay was discovered to contain one of the first identified marine dead zones on the planet, where the waters were so depleted of oxygen that they could not support life, causing mass death of fish. That same year, it sank in the Potomac River, in front of Chesapeake Bay, following a high-power test organized by the U. Response of a benthic suspension feeder (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin) to three centuries of anthropogenic eutrophication in Chesapeake Bay.
For more information on Chesapeake economic development, visit the Chesapeake Economic Development homepage. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, home to more than 18 million people and 3,600 species of plants and animals, it's truly an extraordinary place. With its long coastline, low topography, and growing coastal population, the Chesapeake Bay region is among the places in the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization under section 501 (c) () of the Internal Revenue Code.
Growing concern about pollution also led the Maryland and Virginia legislatures to establish the Chesapeake Bay Commission, an advisory body, in 1980. The northern end of the Oligohaline Zone is north of Baltimore and the southern end is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.