Physical Description of the Barnegat Bay Little Egg Harbor Estuarine System

Abstract

KENNISH, M.J., 2001. Physical Description of the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuarine System. Journal of Coastal Research, Sl(32), 13-27. West Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay, and Little Egg Harbor comprise a shallow, lagoon-type estuary along the central New Jersey coastline. With a surface area of 279 km2 and an average depth of less than 2 m, the estuary forms an irregular tidal basin that extends north-south for nearly 70 km. The elongated embayment is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow barrier island complex (i.e., Island Beach and Long Beach Island) which is breached at Barnegat Inlet ?35 km south of Point Pleasant and at Little Egg Inlet near the southern margin. Saline waters enter through these two inlets as well as through the Point Pleasant Canal at the northern perimeter. Winds, tides, salinity gradients, inlet size and configuration, and the geomorphology of the estuary strongly control water circulation in the system. The shallowness of the open bay waters, the extensive shoals and marsh islands near the inlets, and the configuration of the perimeter areas restrict tidal flow and attenuate tidal energy in the embayment. The Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary and watershed are characterized by a wide range of habi tats, including vegetated and unvegetated subtidal bay bottoms, intertidal flats and bay islands, dunes and beaches, tidal and freshwater marshes, upland and wetland forests, and other natural and altered areas. Bottom sediments in the estuary, consisting of a mosaic of sand, silt, clay, shells, and organic matter, support rich and diverse biotic communities. The watershed, encompassing an area of?1,730 km2, likewise harbors numerous assemblages of organisms. More than 100 endangered, threatened, or rare species of plants and animals have been chronicled in the watershed. Many of these species continue to be affected by water quality degradation, the loss and alteration of habitat areas, and overuse or misuse of natural resources due to a burgeoning coastal human population. .tiiiittlu.