All Topics  
Creek (tidal)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Creek (tidal)
 
 
  Topics Creek (tidal) Topic Home

A tidal creek is the portion of a stream
Stream

A stream is a body of water less than 60 feet wide with a current , confined within a stream bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as brook, beck, Burn , creek, crick, kill, lick , rill, river syke, bayou, rivu...
 that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tide
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
s, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 and electrical conductivity
Electrical conductivity

Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to electrical conduction an electric current. When an electrical potential difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current....
 over the tidal cycle. Due to the temporal variability of water quality
Water quality

Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance can be assessed....
 parameters within the tidally influenced zone, there are unique biota
Biota

Biota may refer to:* Biota , the plant and animal life of a region* Biota , a superdomain in taxonomy* Biota , an evergreen Pinophyta tree, Platycladus orientalis...
 associated with tidal creeks, which biota are often specialised to such zones.

In British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 (and also in many other countries in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
), a creek is a tidal water channel.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Creek (tidal)'
Start a new discussion about 'Creek (tidal)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A tidal creek is the portion of a stream
Stream

A stream is a body of water less than 60 feet wide with a current , confined within a stream bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as brook, beck, Burn , creek, crick, kill, lick , rill, river syke, bayou, rivu...
 that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tide
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
s, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 and electrical conductivity
Electrical conductivity

Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is a measure of a material's ability to electrical conduction an electric current. When an electrical potential difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current....
 over the tidal cycle. Due to the temporal variability of water quality
Water quality

Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance can be assessed....
 parameters within the tidally influenced zone, there are unique biota
Biota

Biota may refer to:* Biota , the plant and animal life of a region* Biota , a superdomain in taxonomy* Biota , an evergreen Pinophyta tree, Platycladus orientalis...
 associated with tidal creeks, which biota are often specialised to such zones.

In British English
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 (and also in many other countries in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
), a creek is a tidal water channel. In parts of Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
, the name Pill
Pill

Pill or the pill may refer to:* A ball, or anything small and round, the origin of the now-obselete term pill , referring to a specific dose of medicine....
 is given to a creek; and Pill is used in certain place names, such as Huntspill
Huntspill

West Huntspill and East Huntspill are villages and civil parish on the Somerset Levels, near Highbridge, Somerset, Somerset, West of England....
. Creeks may often dry to a muddy channel with little or no flow at low tide, but often with significant depth of water at high tide. In India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 the term also applies to the salt water inlets enclosed by mangroves. Creeks are found dispersed all along the Indian coast. In the Florida Keys
Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, Florida, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, Florida, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tort...
, a creek is a narrow channel between islands.

Examples

There are hundreds of examples of tidal creeks throughout the world. A few specific ones are:
  • Burn of Ayreland
    Burn of Ayreland

    The Burn of Ayreland is a northwesterly flowing coastal stream on Mainland Orkney, Scotland that discharges to the Clestrain Sound about two miles south of Stenness....
    , Mainland, Orkney
  • Americano Creek
    Americano Creek

    Americano Creek is a long westward-flowing stream in the California counties of Sonoma County, California and Marin County, California, which flows into the Estero Americano, a long estuary, and thence to the Pacific Ocean....
    , California
    California

    California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
    , USA


See also

  • Estuary
    Estuary

    An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
  • River delta
    River delta

    A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....