Mudflats or mud flats , also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs , are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers . A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal flat ecosystems are as extensive globally as mangroves , covering at least 127,921 km (49,391 sq mi) of the Earth 's surface. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays , bayous , lagoons , and estuaries ; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes (or inland seas) alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud , resulting from deposition of estuarine silts , clays and aquatic animal detritus . Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone , and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.
27-528: The Paramount Theatre is a 2,807-seat performing arts venue located at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in the downtown core of Seattle , Washington , United States. The theater originally opened on March 1, 1928, as the Seattle Theatre , with 3,000 seats. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974, and has also been designated a City of Seattle landmark . The Paramount
54-565: A 2,807-seated theater or a general admission event by separated levels. The Paramount Theatre has an original installation of the Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. The organ is a 4 manual/21 rank Publix 1 style organ and is one of only three remaining original organs of this style. Jim Riggs has been the house organist for the Paramount, accompanying the Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays series. The organ
81-527: A grand movie palace in practically every major city in the country, many erected between 1926 and 1928. In late 1926 or early 1927, Paramount Pictures decided to build in Seattle. Led by its president, movie magnate Adolph Zukor , Paramount Pictures invested nearly $ 3 million for construction. It hired Rapp & Rapp , a Chicago-based architectural firm, to design the theatre building. Seattle resident B. Marcus Priteca , an established architect of movie palaces in
108-525: A safe deep water harbor, located roughly in the city's Pioneer Square district. They named this new frontier "Duwamps". In the late 1850s, present day downtown Seattle became the main residential outskirts of the city. After the Great Seattle Fire , the business district was moved to the area. Several of the city's hills around downtown were regraded starting around 1876. With about 65,000 people living in Seattle's core neighborhoods as of 2015,
135-638: A voter initiative. These restrictions were dramatically loosened in 2006, leading to the increase in high-rise construction. This policy change has divided commentators between those who support the increased density and those who criticize it as " Manhattanization ." As of 2018 , Downtown Seattle has 82,000 residents and 300,000 jobs, including 48,000 added since 2010 in the Denny Triangle area. The downtown area has 71 million square feet (6,600,000 m ) of office space, representing 79 percent of citywide inventory and 55 percent of commercial properties in
162-520: Is Sodo ; and on the west by Elliott Bay, a part of Puget Sound . Belltown , Denny Triangle , the retail district, the West Edge, the financial district, the government district, Pioneer Square , Chinatown , Japantown, Little Saigon, and the western flank of First Hill west of Broadway make up downtown Seattle's chief neighborhoods. Near the center of downtown is the Metropolitan Tract which
189-414: Is a replica of the original iconic sign, but uses LED lights. The Paramount Theatre was also used to hold televised auditions for the sixth season of America's Got Talent . Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington . It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on
216-573: Is located at Westlake Center. A large number of bus lines also run through; those operated by Metro were previously free of charge while in the now-defunct Ride Free Area . Other buses from the suburbs operated by Sound Transit Express and Community Transit also terminate in downtown. Tidal flats A recent global remote sensing analysis estimated that approximately 50% of the global extent of tidal flats occurs within eight countries ( Indonesia , China , Australia , United States , Canada , India , Brazil , and Myanmar ) and that 44% of
243-432: Is one of the busiest theatres in the region. During the 1920s, particularly before the first sound films, or "talkies", were invented in 1927, vaudeville and silent movies were the dominant form of national and local entertainment. Seattle alone had more than 50 movie palaces, the finest grouped together on 2nd Avenue. To achieve the broadest possible distribution of its films, Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures constructed
270-746: Is owned and operated by the Seattle Theatre Group, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit performing arts organization which also runs the 1,768-seat Moore Theatre in Belltown and the Neptune Theatre in the University District . Initially it was built expressly for showing film and secondarily, vaudeville . As of 2009, the Paramount is operated as a venue for various performing arts, serving its patron base with Broadway musical theatre , concerts, dance, comedy, family engagements, silent film and jazz. It
297-470: Is owned by the University of Washington ; prior to 1895 it served as the location of the university's campus. Downtown is Seattle's financial and commercial maritime hub as well as its center of nightlife and shopping. The downtown shopping mall Westlake Center is connected to Seattle Center by a monorail . Downtown Seattle's Columbia Center has 76 floors, a greater number than any other building west of
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#1732884065894324-565: Is presently maintained by a group of volunteers from the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society . It was renamed the Paramount in the 1930s. On December 2, 1972, Black Oak Arkansas recorded a concert here that provided four of the seven songs on the band's 1973 album, "Raunch 'N' Roll Live." As of 2009, the Paramount has a new sign out front. The 1940s Paramount sign originally used 1,970 incandescent bulbs, which were eventually replaced by 11-watt fluorescents . The new sign
351-599: The Baltic Sea coast of Germany in places, mudflats are exposed not by tidal action, but by wind-action driving water away from the shallows into the sea. This kind of wind-affected mudflat is called Windwatt in German. Tidal flats, along with intertidal salt marshes and mangrove forests, are important ecosystems . They usually support a large population of wildlife, and are a key habitat that allows tens of millions of migratory shorebirds to migrate from breeding sites in
378-778: The Mississippi River (although there are taller buildings in Texas and California ). Smith Tower , in the Pioneer Square area, once held the title of tallest American building west of the Mississippi. Other notable buildings are the 1201 Third Avenue (formerly the Washington Mutual Tower), Two Union Square , Nordstrom 's flagship store , Benaroya Hall , the Seattle Central Library designed by Rem Koolhaas , and
405-399: The intertidal zone which is composed of a barren zone and marshes. Within these areas are various ratios of sand and mud that make up the sedimentary layers. The associated growth of coastal sediment deposits can be attributed to rates of subsidence along with rates of deposition (example: silt transported via river) and changes in sea level. Barren zones extend from the lowest portion of
432-463: The 1920s, designed the building's adjacent apartments and office suites. The Paramount Theatre is the first venue in the United States to have a convertible floor system, which converts the theater to a ballroom . Therefore, the maximum concert capacity can hold up to 3,000 fans with the main floor serving as an unreserved standing room area while keeping the seats in the balcony regardless of either
459-732: The Seattle Main Post Office (also known as the Midtown Post Office ) at 301 Union Street at Third Avenue. Seattle City Hall is located at 600 4th Ave, adjacent to the King County Courthouse . Downtown is serviced by the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel , which carries Link light rail trains between Westlake and Chinatown–International District. The terminus for the Seattle Center Monorail
486-508: The United States and the core of activity in the area. The neighborhood had dozens of street clocks in the early 20th century to advertise businesses; by 1950, only 24 were left in the entire city. As of 2024 , downtown has four remaining street clocks. After abandoning " New York Alki ", the Denny Party moved across the then-named Duwamish Bay in April 1852 to a low level marsh situated with
513-674: The city. Office construction continues apace in Downtown Seattle, with 6.4 million square feet (590,000 m ) planned to open in 2019, along with 161 projects. Downtown Seattle is the largest employment center in the Puget Sound region , with an estimated employee population of 243,995 in 2013, accounting for half of the city's jobs and 21 percent of King County jobs. Several Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Downtown Seattle include Amazon , Nordstrom , and Expeditors International . The United States Postal Service operates
540-503: The downtown area's population is growing. Downtown saw a 10 percent increase in the number of occupied housing units and an 8 percent increase in population between 2010 and 2014, outpacing growth in the city as a whole. As of the end of 2014, there were 32 apartment and 2 condominium projects under construction, representing over 5,000 units. In 1989, building heights in Downtown and adjoining Seattle suburbs were tightly restricted following
567-452: The intertidal zone to the marsh areas. Beginning in close proximity to the tidal bars, sand dominated layers are prominent and become increasingly muddy throughout the tidal channels. Common bedding types include laminated sand, ripple bedding, and bay mud. Bioturbation also has a strong presence in barren zones. Marshes contain an abundance of herbaceous plants while the sediment layers consist of thin sand and mud layers. Mudcracks are
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#1732884065894594-581: The main building of the Seattle Art Museum (built 1991, expanded 2007), the main facade of which was designed by Robert Venturi . Downtown parks include Westlake Park , Freeway Park , and Victor Steinbrueck Park . The Olympic Sculpture Park was completed on the Belltown waterfront in January 2007. Downtown is also home to the landmark Pike Place Market , the oldest continually operating farmers' market in
621-455: The mudflats surrounding Anchorage, Alaska , are made from fine glacial-silt which does not easily separate out its water, and, although seemingly solid, can quickly gel and become like quicksand when disturbed by stepping on it. Four people are known to have become stuck up to their waists and drowned when the tide came in, and many others are rescued from the Anchorage mudflats each year. On
648-439: The north and east by hills , on the west by Elliott Bay , and on the south by reclaimed land that was once tidal flats . It is bounded on the north by Denny Way, beyond which are Lower Queen Anne (sometimes known as "Uptown"), Seattle Center , and South Lake Union ; on the east by Interstate 5 , beyond which is Capitol Hill to the northeast and Central District to the east; on the south by S Dearborn Street, beyond which
675-617: The northern hemisphere to non-breeding areas in the southern hemisphere. They are often of vital importance to migratory birds , as well as certain species of crabs , mollusks and fish . In the United Kingdom mudflats have been classified as a Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat. The maintenance of mudflats is important in preventing coastal erosion. However, mudflats worldwide are under threat from predicted sea level rises , land claims for development, dredging due to shipping purposes, and chemical pollution . In some parts of
702-628: The world's tidal flats occur within Asia (56,051 km or 21,641 sq mi). A 2022 analysis of tidal wetland losses and gains estimates that global tidal flats experienced losses of 7,000 km (2,700 sq mi) between 1999 and 2019, which were largely offset by global gains of 6,700 km (2,600 sq mi) over the same time period. In the past tidal flats were considered unhealthy, economically unimportant areas and were often dredged and developed into agricultural land. Some mudflats can be extremely treacherous to walk on. For example,
729-478: The world, such as East and South-East Asia, mudflats have been reclaimed for aquaculture , agriculture , and industrial development. For example, around the Yellow Sea region of East Asia, more than 65% of mudflats present in the early 1950s had been destroyed by the late 2000s. It is estimated that up to 16% of the world tidal flats have disappeared since the mid-1980s. Mudflat sediment deposits are focused into
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