Freshwater input affects physical and biological
processes in many ways. Properties of the receiving waters are directly
modified by fresh water and its constituents, but impacts also extend
to include the entire water column and sea-bed. Time and space scales
over which these modifications occur vary with factors such as scales
of freshwater discharge, dissolved and particulate composition of
materials in the freshwater discharge, latitude of discharge (which
affects the magnitude of Coriolis acceleration, the light environment
and the temperature regime, which in turn affect biological rates),
wind and tides (which affect circulation and surface layer behavior)
and bottom topography of the receiving basin. Meteorology and climatology
also affect the linkages and pathways between freshwater inputs,
physical responses, lower trophic level responses and higher trophic
level responses. This session will explore ways in which the inputs
of freshwater and its dissolved and particulate constituents influence
physical and biological processes, including higher trophic levels,
in the receiving waters of estuarine and coastal ocean systems.