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Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay is located in Texas and projects inland from Laguna Madre forming part of the eastern boundary between Kenedy and Kleberg counties. Baffin Bay is a small embayment located on the western edge of the Upper Laguna Madre and it is often considered a part of this larger system. Alazan Bay lies directly north of Baffin Bay and the system also contains the Laguna Salada and Cayo del Grullo. Baffin Bay has also been called Lago de la Santisima Trinidad and Salt Lagoon (Handbook of Texas Online, 2002). Similar to the Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay receives no riverine input. However, Olmos Creek, San Fernando Creek and Santa Gertrudis Creek provide some freshwater inflow during periods of rainfall. A distinctive feature of both Baffin and Alazan Bays is the presence of ancient serpulid worm reefs. Calcareous worm tubes form both patch and field reefs in the area and provide hard substrate in a region typically dominated by soft sediments. As a result, these reefs are considered important portions of the natural ecosystem and may significantly contribute to biological productivity (Hardegree, 1997). 
Coordinates: 27.28° N 97.43° W Selected Characteristics: (Tunnell and Judd, 2002; Schultz, 1995) Surface Area: 219 km2 Drainage Area: 7,718 km2 Average Daily FW Inflow: 4 m3/s Average Depth: 2.3 m Average Salinity: 40 ppt Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: 21 km2 References: Handbook of Texas Online. 2002. The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. Located on the web at: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/credits.html Hardegree, B. 1997. Biological productivity associated with the serpulid reefs of Baffin Bay, Texas. M.S. Thesis. Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. 130 pp. Schultz, T.W. 1995. Contaminants assessment of the Corpus Christi Bay complex, Texas, 1988-1989. U.S. fish and Wildlife Service. Located on the web at: http://ifw2es.fws.gov/Documents/R2ES/CorpusChristiBay1989.pdf (Jul 21, 2004) Tunnell, J.W., Jr. and F.W. Judd (eds.) 2002. The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas. Texas A&M University Press. 346 pp. http://www.cbbep.org/publications/virtuallibrary/CC17.pdf http://www.cbbep.org/publications/virtuallibrary/0819.pdf http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrb04 Additional Information: Handbook of Texas Online - Baffin Bay Keywords: Bays, Estuaries, Ancient serpulid worm reef, Calcareous, Worm tubes, Texas |
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GulfBase is a project of the
Harte
Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
To give proper credit to the original authors, please cite information taken from GulfBase by the original source as displayed. 
To cite GulfBase, use:
F. Moretzsohn, J.A. Sánchez Chávez,
and J.W. Tunnell, Jr., Editors. 2013.
GulfBase: Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research.
World Wide
Web electronic publication. http://www.gulfbase.org, 23 May 2013. |
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