salt marsh

salt marsh
a marshy tract that is wet with salt water or flooded by the sea.
[bef. 1000; ME saltmerche, OE sealtne mersc]

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      area of low, flat, poorly drained ground that is subject to daily or occasional flooding by salt water or brackish water and that is covered with a thick mat of grasses and such grasslike plants as sedges and rushes. Salt marshes are common along low seacoasts, inside barrier bars and beaches, in estuaries, and on deltas and are also extensive in deserts and other arid regions that are subject to occasional overflow by water containing a high content of salts. Maritime salt marshes often extend many miles inland and are variably subject to tidal action; inland brackish marshes are found frequently on mineral substrates of alluvial and lacustrine origin.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Salt marsh — Salt Salt, a. [Compar. {Salter}; superl. {Saltest}.] [AS. sealt, salt. See {Salt}, n.] 1. Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted; as, salt beef; salt water. Salt tears.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • salt marsh — salt marshes N VAR A salt marsh is an area of flat, wet ground which is sometimes covered by salt water or contains areas of salt water …   English dictionary

  • salt marsh — salt′ marsh n. ecl a marshy tract that is wet with salt water or flooded by the sea • Etymology: bef. 1000 …   From formal English to slang

  • salt marsh — n. grassland that is periodically flooded by salt water …   English World dictionary

  • salt marsh — salt ,marsh noun count a flat area of land that is frequently covered with SALTWATER …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • salt marsh — ► NOUN ▪ an area of coastal grassland that is regularly flooded by seawater …   English terms dictionary

  • Salt marsh — A salt marsh is a type of marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or brackish water (e.g.: sloughs, bays, estuaries). It is dominated by halophytic (salt tolerant) herbaceous plants. Historically, salt marshes have… …   Wikipedia

  • salt marsh — noun low lying wet land that is frequently flooded with saltwater • Hypernyms: ↑marsh, ↑marshland, ↑fen, ↑fenland * * * noun Etymology: Middle English saltmersh, from salt + mersh marsh more at marsh …   Useful english dictionary

  • salt marsh — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms salt marsh : singular salt marsh plural salt marshes a flat area of land that is frequently covered with saltwater …   English dictionary

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  • Salt-marsh fleabane — Salt Salt, a. [Compar. {Salter}; superl. {Saltest}.] [AS. sealt, salt. See {Salt}, n.] 1. Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted; as, salt beef; salt water. Salt tears.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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