The Bay Of Fundy- One Of The Seven Wonders In North America

The Bay of Fundy Student`s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Large water bodies cover the largest part of the world. Among them is the Bay of Fundy which is one of the seven wonders in North America. It’s famous for having the largest tides in the world and a rare species of whales (Roman, Nevins, Altabet, Koopman & McCarthy, 2016). It also has dinosaur fossils and several precious minerals. Therefore, this resulted in it being named as one of the Seven Wonders of the World in 2014. It is located between the North Pole and the equator of Canada's east coast. It is a unique coastal environment renowned for its various geological discoveries. Also, the bay has various marine life as evidenced by the different national parks, museums, provincial parks, UNESCO sites, and different national historic sites. It holds both commercial and non-commercial organisms which have contributed to the increase in human made activities made to protect and also exploit the resources of the Bay. In addition to such human-made activities, it has been affected by pollution and overfishing which result to a decrease in its marine life.as well, there various human-made activities such as the harnessing of tidal energy which will have a positive impact on the community of the Fundy Bay. The beautiful scenery of the bay and the various marine life make it a huge tourist destination from all parts of the world. Therefore, this paper will address the history of the bay regarding its formation, characteristics, ecological communities and the human made impact over the last years. History of the basin formation The Bay of Fundy is a 270km stretch, which is straight sides and somehow funnel-shaped which splits on its northeastern side to form two bays. Those are the Minas Basin and the Chignecto Bay. The Chignecto bay is further divided into the Shepody Bay and the Cumberland Bay. Most of these sections expose the red bays muds which are responsible for various biological activities. The Minas Basin is connected to the main body by the minas channel. The channel is approximately 106meters deep and 5.6 km across. The Bay was formed as a result of continental drift many years ago. As the plates drifted further away from each other, the stretch was filled with sediments that were washed from the drifting land. The bay lies in a basin known as the rift valley. As the rift continued to shift from the mainland of North America, it triggered volcanic activities which formed flood basalts and volcanoes. Also, the basalt floods poured to cover much of the southern Nova Scotia, and some of its sections have been eroded over the years. They form the north mountain which is a combination of a basaltic mountain range. Therefore, much of the basins is made up of basalts which are responsible for its brown color. Also, the bay has various islands which contribute to its beauty. For instance, the Grand Manan is the largest of them at is located at the boundary of the Gulf of Maine. As well, the Moose Island, the Campobello Island and the Deer Island are located on the north side of the bay. On the southern side is the Long Island and the Brier Island. On the upper bay off Cape Chignecto is the Isle Haute. The five main islands in the basin create a beautiful scene. Aerial photos of the bay reveal a fascinating destination for tourists. Also, the bay is responsible for the formation of the Hopewell Rocks. The tides shape the rocks and located on a 1km stretch along the Shepody Bay. The stacks of the rocks are being cut from the cliffs by the high tides. Also, the bay receives water from various rivers such: * Avon River * Cornwallis River * Debert River * Farrell River * Salmon River * Shubenacadie River * Kennetcook River * Big Salmon River * Little Salmon River * Magaguadavic River * Memramcook River * Petitcodiac River * Quiddy River * Saint John River * St. Croix River * Shepody River * Tantramar River Upper Salmon River Physical characteristics of the basin The rivers on the upper section of the bay have a slow flow rate and a shallow slope. This explains the reason as to why the tides have deposited mud flats on the tidal ranges of the rivers. As well, the rivers on the upper bay experience the tidal bore whereby the wave of the water flows up the river as result of the strength of the tide being strong than that of the water flowing downstream. The Salmon River, Petitcodiac River, and Shubenacadie River are famous for having the tidal bores. The narrow nature of these rivers slows down the advancing wave as a result of their shallow waters hence resulting in the occurrence of the tidal bore. The best example of a tidal bore can be seen in river Shubenacadie near Truro town as well as Maitland village. The locals in these areas offer an ecotourism activity whereby they offer shafting services upriver on the tidal bore. Also, river Salmon also provides a good view for a tidal bore in Truro town. River Petitcodiac and Avon used to have tidal bores, but since the construction of the causeway in the 1960s, the bores have been greatly disturbed by the excessive siltation. A tidal chart showing the the heights of the tides in bay of Fundy on June 23, 2008. Regarding the tides, the bay has the highest tides recorded in the world. The tides are attributed to tidal resonance which happens as a result of the coincidence in timing. In this case, the time that is taken by a wave to travel from the mouth of the bay and back to the shore is equal to the time taken between one tide and the other. In twelve hours, it is estimated that 115 billion tons of water flow in and out of Fundy Bay. Experts from Canadian Hydrographic Service point out that the tidal height for Bay of Fundy at Burntcoat head is approximately 17 meters. As well, that of Leaf Basin in Ungava Bay is approximately 16.8meters. The leaf Basin range is higher than that of the Minas Basin. The high tide is attributed to particular peak seasons of the tidal seasons and only occurs once in every 18 years. The highest tide level that has ever been recorded in the Bay of Fundy was approximately 21.6 meters. It was as a result of the combination between a spring tide, abnormally low atmospheric pressure and high winds. This happened on 4th October 1869 during the tropical cyclone called Saxby Gale. Also, the bay of Fundy tides is semidiurnal meaning that they have two lows and two highs every day. The height at which the waters falls and rises in each day is almost equal and therefore, it can be concluded that the bay has equal tides. The time difference between a high and low tide is approximately six hours and thirteen minutes. The amount of water that flows in the bay during this period is four times more than the combination of the freshwater rivers across the world flowing within the same period. Present physical characteristics The bay is U-shaped, and this plays a substantial role in the generation of the high tides. It also tapers on its north most end. Therefore, as the tides approach the show, they rise high in response to the constriction. In combination with other lunar factors, this makes the tides a part of the Seven Wonders of the World. As a result, the upper section of the bay has extensive salt marshes and mud flats. They form as a result of the water that pushes upstream and back to the shore during the tides. Also, given the fact that the bay was formed as a result of continental drift which was followed by various volcanic activity, then its waters are saline. As well, the water appears to be cloudy due to the impacts of the tides. As well the rays of the sun cannot reach at deep length in the water hence making it nearly impossible to see the bluish color of ocean water. Also, the most conspicuous weather of the Fundy bay is fog. The fog is formed as a result of the warm air moving from the land meets the cold air of the Fundy waters. This air condenses to form a thick fog whose visibility is only a few meters. However, during the sunny days, the weather is clear hence making it easy for people to view the high tides. The water that flows into the bay twice a day has the same temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. The water seldom exceeds 7/8c regardless of the season. As well, in the summer, the cooling waters produce a cool breeze over the bay. However, in an approximation of eight kilometers into the mainland, the temperatures become warmers due to the heating of the land. The high salt content in the water prevents it from freezing and therefore, the air over the bay is high in saline content. Hence, the water plays a substantial role in influencing the atmospheric condition of Fundy Bay. It can be concluded that the atmospheric conditions regulate themselves within the bay. Human activities have minimal impact on these conditions. During the winter an interesting phenomenon happens whereby, an individual can notice the precipitation change caused by the winter snow storm. However much the weather of the bay keeps on changing, the people that depend on it for commercial purposes have gotten used and no longer worry about the extreme temperatures or rain. They are only worried about the strong winds that cannot be controlled by human beings. Many fishers have lost their lives as a result of their boats capsizing due to strong winds. Also, the bay of Fundy is prone to the formation of ice during the seventh month of the year when the temperatures are extremely low. During this time, the difference in the spring tides and the neap tides is very high hence creating a condition of maximum overflow into the bay. It also presents the maximum ice such as the buildup of ice walls in the bay's estuaries. This phenomenon occurs in approximately one month before the spring and the perigean tides (Desplanque & Mossman, 1998). The ice walls act as a hazard to human made activities such as fishing, and therefore, they need to be considered in the programs of the coastal development and management schemes. The ecological communities The upper estuary of the Petitcodiac River was converted into a freshwater basin following the construction of the causeway in 1968. In approximately thirty years after the construction of the causeway, zooplankton because of the common feature of the estuary. The zooplankton consisted of a combination of marine and freshwater taxa. The dam was constructed to prevent the migration of fish and other marine species that would have been available in the presence of ichthyoplankton. The fluctuating water levels had resulted in the invertebrate plankton family being dominated by rotifers. The high amount of suspended sediments in the water could also have resulted in domination by rotifers (Milligan, Law & Hill, 2016). The mysid neomycin Americana, Temora longicornis, marine calanoids and the cancer crab were harvested up to approximately 14kilometers up the stream of the freshwaters. As well, the Fundy bay has phytoplankton, fish and various species of whales such as the minke, humpback, the rare right whale, and the sei. The water around Grand Manan plays a substantial role in inhibiting the rare species of the whales. As a result, the Canadian government establishes conservation of the area between June and October every year. Research indicates that the area between the Roseway basin and Grand Mana are the only locations whereby the rare right whale can be seen during the summer and fall. Om the southern part of Grand Manan is a peck or rock known as the Machias seal island. It holds a resurgent number of puffins which is an indication of the undisturbed conditions on that side of the bay. There are also plenty of migratory birds which obtain their food from the massive stretches of mudflats. The months of July and August mark the largest stopover period for shorebirds and sandpipers. An approximation of 75 percent of the world's population of sandpipers settles in Mina's bay during this period (Mann, Hamilton, Paquet, Gratto-Trevor & Neima, 2017). The birds build their body fat in the crustaceans that are only found in the mud of a specific consistency. The mudflats of Mina's bay in Fundy provide such an environment. Given the strength of the tide, the bay of Fundy can accumulate a vast combination of nutrients which act as food for most of the Marine creatu...