Water Water Everywhere!
Brackish Water, Fresh Water, Salt Water
Brackish Water
Also known as Briny Water, is water that has more salinity than fresh water but less than salt water. Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is most common found where salt water and freshwater meet such as in estuaries or in brackish fossil aquifers. Brackish Water contains between .05 to 3% salinity.
Estuaries are key for migrating fish that are moving from fresh water to salt water or vise versa. They allow the fish to get used to the change in salinity without going from one extreme to the other.
Major Brackish Water Estuaries:
Thames Estuary in Teddington, England
Mangrove Swamps are another type of Brackish Water habitat where the salinity of the water changes with every tide. The main resident is the mudskipper.
Major Mangrove Swamps:
Sundarbans in Bengal
Bhitarkanika Mangroves in India's Odisha State
Brackish seas and lakes are other habitats of Brackish water. This is where the lake or sea is salt water or fresh water and is being flooded by another sea or lake that is the opposite of what type of water it is.
Major Brackish Seas or Lakes:
Baltic Sea in Northern Europe
Caspian Sea in Central Asia
Black Sea in Southeastern Europe
A Brackish Marsh is where a fresh water flow may enter a salt water marsh.
Fresh Water
Also known as sweet water, is a naturally occuring water located on Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, rivers, streams and much more. Fresh Water has a very low to no concentration of dissolved salt or solids. Sweet water contains less than .05% salinity.
Major Fresh Water Lakes:
Lake Baikal (20% of the earths fresh water supply) in Siberia
The Great Lakes in Michigan, United States
Salt Water
Also known as Seawater, is water from the sea or ocean. Seawater contains around 3.5% salinity. It is denser than fresh water and pure water because the added dissolved salts increase the mass by a larger proportion than the volume.
Major Salt Water Seas and Oceans:
Pacific Ocean
Dead Sea in Jordan
Great Salt Lake in Utah