The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, stretching over 200 miles in length with a watershed that drains into it from six states. Formed by glacial activity at the end of the last ice age and impacted by a meteor crater, the Bay has a range of salinity levels from nearly freshwater at its northern end to increasing salinity further south where rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. Its composition is influenced by dissolved materials from decomposing organisms, organisms releasing compounds, and runoff entering via tributaries while dissolved gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and phosphorus impact organisms throughout the food web, from the largest volumes at the bottom to decreasing energy transfer at each higher trophic