Estuaries of the World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edinburgh

The Firth of Forth is formed where the River Forth flows into the North Sea. Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, sits on the southern shore of the Forth, and is connected to Fife by three adjacent bridges - the Forth (railway) Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site opened in 1890; the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964; and the Queensferry Crossing, opened in 2017.

The picture is of Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano in Edinburgh.

Answer: Potomac

Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the USA, with a watershed of around 64,000 square miles. It is crossed by twin bridges connecting the eastern and western shores of Maryland. The Potomac River rises in West Virginia and flows for just over 400 miles into Chesapeake Bay.

The picture is of the Chesapeake Bay bridges.

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

The Shannon is the longest river in the entire British Isles, not just Ireland. It flows from Shannon Pot in County Cavan for 224 miles to the Shannon Estuary, near the city of Limerick. The estuary itself is around 60 miles in length, and connects the river with the Atlantic Ocean in southwest Ireland.

The picture is of the River Shannon at Limerick.

Answer: Uruguay

The River Plates flows for around 180 miles from Punta Gorda in Uruguay into the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary is around 140 miles wide at its mouth. The capital cities of Argentina and Uruguay (Buenos Aires and Montevideo) both lie on its banks.

The picture is of Montevideo.

Answer: Bristol Channel

The River Severn rises in Ceredigion, Wales, and flows for 220 miles before forming the Severn Estuary at the point where the Second Severn Crossing joins Gloucestershire in England with Monmouthshire in Wales. The Bristol Channel is named after the city of the same name, despite being located some miles away.

The picture is of the Severn River where it becomes an estuary - the original Severn Bridge is in the foreground; the new one, opened in 1996, in the background.

Answer: Tampa Bay

"Tampa Bay" actually consists of five different bays - Old Tampa Bay, Lower Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, Hillsboro Bay and Mckay Bay. There are over 100 rivers supplying the estuary, the largest source being Hillsborough River. There are a number of large cities in the Bay area, including Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater.

The picture is of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which connects St Petersburg with Manatee County.

Answer: Essex and Kent

The River Thames rises near Kemble in Gloucestershire, and flows for 215 miles to the Thames Estuary, flowing through Oxford and London on the way. Essex lies on the north bank and Kent on the south.

The picture is of the Thames Flood Barrier.

Answer: San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay is by far the largest on America's Pacific Coast. Apart from the Sacramento, other rivers which feed it include the San Joaquin and the Napa. Cities on its shores include San Francisco (obviously!), Oakland and Berkeley.

The picture is of the Golden Gate Bridge, where the San Francisco Bay estuary meets the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: Humber

The Ouse and Trent are two of the longest rivers in the UK, and meet on the border of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The Humber is crossed by the Humber Bridge, which, at the time of its completion in 1981, was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world (a Japanese bridge surpassed it in 1998). The city of Hull lies on the north bank of the estuary. The Humber meets the North Sea between Spurn Head and Donna Nook.

The picture is of the mouth of the Humber estuary.

Answer: Romania

The Danube is Europe's longest non-Russian river, flowing for almost 1800 miles from the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea. It flows through nine countries and four capital cities (Budapest, Vienna, Belgrade and Bratislava). The delta is located mostly in Romania, with a small portion in Ukraine.

The picture is of pelicans in the Danube Delta.