Title: estuary
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - estuary
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.14661
Status: current

Definition
(general) Tidal opening, an inlet, or creek through which the tide enters; an arm of the sea indenting the land. Rare in modern use.
(specific) Tidal mouth of a great river, where the tide meets the current of freshwater.
Note 1: An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with a free connection to the open sea made up of brackish water, typically the tidal mouth of rivers, often associated with sedimentation of material from terrestrial runoff.
Note 2: An estuary is often associated with a high rate of biological productivity.


Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 881 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14661/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14661/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14661/xml

Citation: Citation: 'estuary' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.14661
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Accessed: 2026-05-09T20:58:25+00:00