History of Long Island Sound

What is Pangea?

The supercontinent of Pangea, mostly assembled by the Triassic Period, allowed land animals to migrate from the South Pole to the North Pole. Life began to rediversify after the great Permo-Triassic extinction and warm-water faunas spread across the land.

The next Pangea, "Pangea Ultima" will form as a result of the plate tectonic movement of the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean beneath eastern North America and South America. This supercontinent will have a small ocean basin trapped at its center.

Continental Drift of Pangea Animation

Fig. 1 Sediments shed from the east coast mountains are deposited into the expanding Atlantic Ocean, building the coastal plain and continental shelf.

Fig. 2 As the Wisconsinan Glacier retreated northward, glacial Lake Connecticut formed north of the Harbor Hill-Roanoke Point- Fishers Island-Charlestown recessional moraine. Sea level was about 90 meters (300 feet) lower than it is today. outube.com/ watch?v=hC 3VTgIPoGU

Fig. 3 As the rate of sea level rise slowed, the Long Island Sound estuary assumed its present shape.

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Estuaries Housatonic River estuary entering Long Island Sound, Milford and Stratford, CT. Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center. An estuary is an area where a fresh water source meets salt water. Is Long Island Sound water ocean water?

Estuaries are very productive habitats. Tidal flow keeps the water oxygenated, distributes nutrients, and delivers food particles to shellfish.. WHY????

Conditions are right to support a variety of seaweeds, sea grasses, algae and phytoplankton. Why?

What do the plants provide?

It also supports a rich abundance of fish and shellfish and provides a nursery for these organism to develop.

Where does salt water come from in LIS? The RACE

How many high and low tides do we have in CT?

Where does freshwater come from?

1.CT River – through New London 2.Housatonic – through Bridgeport 3.Thames River – through Groton 3 Major Rivers In Connecticut

Approximately 7.7 million people live around LIS

Economic Values of LIS

Grass shrimp menhaden anchovies

Ecological Values of LIS

Surface Temperature 32 o F-73 o F Salinity 23 ppt – 35 ppt

LIS Facts 21 miles wide600 miles of coastlineAvg depth=65 feet 110 miles long13,000 square miles 2 high and low tides Average depth of ocean: 14,000 ft Deepest: Marian Trench: 36,000 ft.

Organisms in LIS..\ice breaker movement powerpoint.pptx

THINK ON YOUR OWN…. Answer the following: 1.What is Long Island Sound? 2.What factors effect organism that live in Long Island Sound? 3.How have organisms adapted to survive? What do they do to survive?

PAIR Brainstorm As a group, answer the same questions. 1.What is Long Island Sound? 2.What factors effect organism that live in Long Island Sound? 3.How have organisms adapted to survive? What do they do to survive?

SHARE Adaptations and stressors of organisms in LIS.