Estuary areas where fresh and salt water mix

Estuary • areas where fresh and salt water mix, producing variations in salinity and high biological activity • one of the most productive ecosystems on earth.

Marine Ecosystems • among the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems • include oceans, salt marsh and intertidal ecology, estuaries and lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, the deep sea and the sea floor

Upwelling • happens when warm surface water near coastal areas is blown offshore by winds • creates a condition in which the cold water along the bottom of the ocean near the shore rises, carrying sediment and organic material to the surface

Photosynthesis • the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water

Chemosynthesis • the synthesis of organic compounds by bacteria or other living organisms using energy derived from reactions involving inorganic chemicals, typically in the absence of sunlight – Synthesis - combination or composition

Hydrothermal Vent • the exit point on the ocean floor from which sea water that has seeped into the rocks of the oceanic crust (heated and containing dissolved materials from the crust) flows back into the ocean – Release dissolved minerals into the ocean

Salinity • the dissolved salt content of the water