Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Virginia and Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay's watershed covers 64,299 mi² (166,534 km²) in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. More than 150 rivers and streams drain into the Bay.

Geology

The Bay is the drowned valley of the Susquehanna, meaning that was where the river flowed when sea level was lower, but the Bay's geology and its present form and its very location have also been affected by a bolide impact event at the end of the Eocene (about 35.5 million years ago), forming the recently discovered submerged Chesapeake Bay impact crater.

Related Topics:
Drowned valley - Bolide - Impact event - Eocene - Chesapeake Bay impact crater

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Parts of the Bay, especially the coast line of Calvert County, are lined by cliffs as the result of receding waters millions of years ago. These cliffs, generally known as Calvert Cliffs, are famous for their fossils, especially fossilized shark teeth. Fossilized shark teeth are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs. Scientist's Cliffs is a beach community in Calvert County, named so because of the cliffs' propensity for geological finds and numerous fossils.

Related Topics:
Calvert County - Calvert Cliffs - Fossils - Shark - Scientist's Cliffs

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Much of the bay is quite shallow. A person 6'7" (2 m) tall could not only walk across the mouth of the Susquehanna at the upper bay, but could also traverse some 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) of the bay without being entirely submerged. On average, the depth of the Bay is less than 5 fathoms (30 feet or 9 meters).

Related Topics:
M - Acre - Fathom - Feet

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