Sediment-filled rivers are dumping tremendous amounts of suspended sediment into the Atlantic Ocean. The sediment being dumped into the oceans has an effect on the ecology of the oceans, both in a good and bad way. And, this is one of the ways that the oceans have become what they are: salty.

Water will flow along channels as it moves into larger creeks, streams, and rivers. Surface runoff, especially when it runs across surfaces like roads, can pick up and then deposit particulate matter and sediment into the river (which isn't good for water quality).

When it rains - which it does a fair bit, here - the rainwater breaks up the exposed rocks and soil on the mountainsides, and carries these particles downhill. As the rainwater enters the ocean, its speed slows and the sediment particles eventually settle out onto the seagrass beds and coral reefs and rocks lining the bays.

Also known as stormwater runoff control, erosion prevention and sediment control is not one technology, but rather a suite of methods that can be used to both prevent soils from eroding from a piece of land, and to capture any that do erode.