Answer:
A coastal region in which the water from the streams and the rivers get intermixed with the water of the oceans is termed as an estuary. These regions are safeguarded from the force of the ocean by sandsplits, mudflats, and barrier islands.
Some of the ways by which an estuary protect inland regions are:
1. These regions help in controlling pollution, as the marshy land and plants found in the regions act as filters by removing pollutants out of the water moving towards the inland areas.
2. In the estuaries, the plants assist in preventing erosion.
3. These regions also safeguard the inland regions from storm surges and flooding.
4. In the case of natural calamities like storms, the estuaries captivate water from the storm before reaching it towards the inland regions.