Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long[1] and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines.[2][3] The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of about 600 square miles and is located in northern Coos County, Oregon, in the United States. The Coos River, which begins in the Oregon Coast Range, enters the bay from the east. From Coos River, the bay forms a sharp loop northward before arching back to the south and out to the Pacific Ocean. Haynes Inlet enters the top of this loop. South Slough branches off from the bay directly before its entrance into the Pacific Ocean.[4] The bay was formed when sea levels rose over 20,000 years ago at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, flooding the mouth of the Coos River.[2] Coos Bay is Oregon's most important coastal industrial center and international shipping port, with close ties to San Francisco, the Columbia River, Puget Sound and other major ports of the Pacific rim.[3]
The city of Coos Bay is located on the peninsula formed by the inside of the loop of the bay. Charleston is located near the entrance to South Slough. Many of the commercial fishing and recreational fishing boats that call Coos Bay home are docked in Charleston.[5] North Bend, located at the apex of the peninsula, is home to the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport.
The estuary has been altered over 150 years of modern anthropogenic use.[6][7] Dredging, deepening, river diversion and spoil disposal has led to physical, biological, and chemical changes to the system over time.
- ^ Percy, Katherine; Sutterlin, Chet; Bella, David; Klingeman, Peter (1974). Descriptions and Information Sources for Oregon Estuaries. Corvallis Oregon: Sea Grant College Program. pp. 46–57.
- ^ a b Schrager, Hannah; Bragg, John; Yednock, Bree; Schmitt, Jenni; Helms, Ali; Tally, Joy; Rudd, Deborah; Dean, Eric; Muse, Rebecca; Cornu, Craig; Gaskill, Tom; Wilsom, Pam. "South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan, 2017-2022, Coos County Oregon" (PDF). Report. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
- ^ a b Rumrill, Steven (2008). "The Ecology of the South Slough Estuary: Site Profile of the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve" (PDF). Technical Report: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon Department of State Lands. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
- ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Archived from the original on 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ "Charleston Marina Complex". Port of Coos Bay - Oregon's Seaport. Archived from the original on 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ Eidam, E.F.; Sutherland, D.A; Ralston, D.K.; Dye, B.; Conroy, T.; Schmitt, J.; Ruggiero, P.; Wood, J. (2022). "Impacts of 150 Years of Shoreline and Bathymetric Change in the Coos Estuary, Oregon, USA". Estuaries and Coasts. 45 (4): 1170–1188. Bibcode:2022EstCo..45.1170E. doi:10.1007/s12237-020-00732-1. S2CID 216085751.
- ^ Eidam, E. F.; Sutherland, D. A.; Ralston, D. K.; Conroy, T.; Dye, B. (2020). "Shifting Sediment Dynamics in the Coos Bay Estuary in Response to 150 Years of Modification". Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 126 (1). doi:10.1029/2020JC016771. hdl:1912/27077. ISSN 2169-9275. S2CID 230566686.