Matagorda Bay (
) is a large
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
bay on the
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
coast, lying in
Calhoun
John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States.
Calhoun can also refer to:
Surname
* Calhoun (surname)
Inhabited places in the United States
*Calhoun, Georgia
*Calhoun, Illinois
* Calhoun, Kansas
* Calhoun, Kentuc ...
and
Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of
Corpus Christi, east-southeast of
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
, south-southwest of
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, and south-southeast of
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. It is one of seven major
estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and serves as the mouth of numerous streams, most notably the
Lavaca and
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
s. The Texas seaport of
Port Lavaca is located on the system's northwestern extension of
Lavaca Bay
Lavaca Bay () is a northwestern extension of the Matagorda Bay system found mostly in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The ports of Port Lavaca and Point Comfort have been established on the bay, and are the main areas of human habitation ...
. The city of
Palacios is found on northeastern extension of
Tres Palacios Bay, and
Port O'Connor is located on the southwestern tip of the main bay's shore. The
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
of
Indianola, which was a major port before it was destroyed by two hurricanes in the late 19th century, is also found on the bay.
The bay is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by
Matagorda Peninsula
The Matagorda Peninsula () is a narrow spit of land on the southeastern coast of Texas in the United States.
The peninsula is in Matagorda County, Texas. The barrier island lies between Matagorda Bay, an estuary, and the Gulf of Mexico. The Tex ...
. Its shore, especially near the Colorado River delta, provides a habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. The wildlife serves as a basis for the birding and fishing tourism, and is an essential component of the production of seafood, specifically
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
and
blue crab Blue crab may refer to:
* Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design
* ''Callinectes sapidus'' – Chesapeake or Atlantic blue crab of the West Atlantic, introduced elsewhere
* '' Cardisoma guanhumi'' – blue land crab of the West Atlantic
* '' Dis ...
, which are the specialties of the area. The fertile land near the bay is ideal for farming, especially for the propagation of rice.
History
Early European records suggest that the bay and the surrounding area went by the names ''Espíritu Santo'' and ''Costa y Bahía de San Bernardo''. Spanish explorer
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
Alonso Álvarez de Piñeda (; 1494–1520) was a Spanish conquistador and cartographer who was the first to prove the insularity of the Gulf of Mexico by sailing around its coast. In doing so he created the first map to depict what is now Texas an ...
's map from the late 1510s appears to be the first documentation of the bay. In 1685, French explorer
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...
established the colony of
Fort St. Louis along the bay's shore after missing the entrance to the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.
Half of the colonists were killed by disease, and the other half, save for five children, were killed by
Karankawa Indians
The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by John ...
. It was afterward referred to as a "lost colony." The Indians kept the children until they were rescued by the Spanish during the
Alonso De León
Alonso de León "El Mozo" (c. 1639–1691) was explorer and governor, who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.
Early life
Alonso de León González was born in 1639, in the settlement of Cade ...
and
Domingo Terán de los Ríos
Domingo Terán de los Ríos served as the first governor of Texas from 1691 to 1692. He also governed Coahuila, in the modern-day Mexico.
Previous service
Terán served the Spanish crown in Peru for two decades. He came to Mexico in 1681 as a ...
expeditions near the bay. In 1722 Spanish built a fort,
Presidio La Bahia
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were ce ...
, and
Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga
Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, also known as Aranama Mission or Mission La Bahía, was a Roman Catholic mission established by Spain in 1722 in the Viceroyality of New Spain—to convert native Karankawa Indians to Chris ...
on the site of Fort Saint Louis.
![LaSallesExpeditiontoLouisiana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/LaSallesExpeditiontoLouisiana.JPG)
The port of
Linnville was established on Matagorda Bay in 1831, and served as a main port for the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...
. The
Great Comanche Raid of 1840 destroyed the town and forced the inhabitants to flee to the nearby Labbacca, which would later become known as Port Lavaca. Lavaca or ''la vaca'', Spanish for cow, was founded in the wake of the Comanche Raid in 1841. It replaced Linnville as the main port on Matagorda Bay. However, the sandbar-heavy Lavaca Bay caused some navigational problems for ships. As a result, Lavaca was surpassed by Indianola as the main port on Matagorda Bay in the 1850s, even though the sandbars were dredged later in the decade.
Indianola had been founded in 1846 as a landing place for German immigrants. It rapidly developed into a major seaport, and became the second largest in the state (after
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
) by the 1860s.
The two ports, and strategic control of Matagorda Bay in particular, became important during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Control of the bay shifted between the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
and
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
forces several times. The Union presence in the area ended in June 1864.
After the war, Indianola continued its growth, and had a population of 5,000 in the 1870s. A hurricane in 1875 caused massive damage to the city. It was rebuilt on a smaller scale shortly thereafter, but a second and more intense
hurricane made landfall in 1886 (the fifth most intense in U.S. history), causing even greater destruction. The following year, Indianola was completely abandoned.
Although Lavaca was also significantly affected by the hurricanes, it survived as a port, and again became the largest on the bay. It continues to hold this distinction today. It was renamed Port Lavaca in the late 19th century.
Palacios was established around 1901,
and Port O'Connor was founded on the bay in 1909.
Before 1900,
East Matagorda Bay
East Matagorda Bay is a bay off Matagorda County on the Texas Gulf Coast (at 28°43' N, 95°49' W), enclosed by the Matagorda Peninsula and the tidal flats at the mouth of the Colorado River. It is a minor estuary, one of a series of estuaries a ...
was a free flowing extension, which formed the eastern segment of Matagorda Bay. Flooding and drainage issues caused by the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
, which at the time emptied into the bay, precipitated a massive dredging campaign in the 1920s. Flooding was not remedied by the dredging, as sediment deposited in the bay and formed a
tidal marsh
A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...
that grew at a year. As a result, local citizens decided to change the course of the Colorado River in 1934 to bypass Matagorda Bay into the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
, the dredging from this project causing the split and forming the isolated East Matagorda Bay.
In 1992, the river was diverted back to the bay.
Features
![Matagorda bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Matagorda_bay.jpg)
The shoreline of the bay is included in the
Texas Coastal Plain
The Texas Coastal Bend, or just the Coastal Bend, is a geographical region in the US state of Texas. The name refers to the area being a curve along the Texas Gulf Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest city of the Coastal Bend is Corpus Christ ...
. At the eastern end, near the Colorado River delta, there is a swampy terrain, with an abundance of
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s and tidal marshes. Extended coastal
prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
s supporting native grasses, can be found throughout the area.
On average, the Matagorda Bay system is deep, and covers approximately . The main extensions include:
Lavaca Bay
Lavaca Bay () is a northwestern extension of the Matagorda Bay system found mostly in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The ports of Port Lavaca and Point Comfort have been established on the bay, and are the main areas of human habitation ...
, which extends westward to the mouth of the
Lavaca River
The Lavaca River ( ) is a navigable river in the U.S. state of Texas. It begins in the northeastern part of Gonzales County, and travels generally southeast for until it empties into Lavaca Bay, which is a component of Matagorda Bay.
History
T ...
;
Tres Palacios Bay, which extends northeast to the mouth of the
Tres Palacios River and
East Matagorda Bay
East Matagorda Bay is a bay off Matagorda County on the Texas Gulf Coast (at 28°43' N, 95°49' W), enclosed by the Matagorda Peninsula and the tidal flats at the mouth of the Colorado River. It is a minor estuary, one of a series of estuaries a ...
, which is nearly isolated from the system by the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
delta. Other inlets include Turtle Bay,
Carancahua Bay, Keller Bay, and Cox Bay.
Together with its extensions, Matagorda Bay forms one of seven major
estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas, and the third largest estuarine system in Texas behind
Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...
and
Laguna Madre
The Laguna Madre is a long, shallow, hypersaline lagoon along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and Cameron Counties in Texas, United States. It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast ...
.
It receives the discharge from the Colorado River and the Lavaca River, as well as numerous smaller creeks.
Every second, approximately of water flows into the bay. Water exchange with the Gulf of Mexico occurs at
Pass Cavallo, Matagorda Ship Channel, Greens Bayou, the Colorado River Delta Complex and Brown Cedar Cut. As a result of the seawater exchange, the bay's salinity is 19 parts per thousand (ppt),
which is lower than the seawater average of 35 ppt.
Ecosystem
A wide variety of wildlife can be found in and around Matagorda Bay. The Mad Island-Oyster Lake conservation area, located on the eastern shore of Matagorda Bay, is a habitat for over 300 species of birds including songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl. More species of birds were found in the area than any other in the nation during the
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
's annual
Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birdwatchers and administered by the National Audubon Society. The purpose is to provide pop ...
from 2000 to 2002. Other fauna located along the bay include
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
s,
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
,
river otters,
Texas horned lizard
The Texas horned lizard (''Phrynosoma cornutum'') is one of about 14 North American species of spikey-bodied reptiles called horned lizards, all belonging the genus ''Phrynosoma''. It occurs in south-central regions of the US and northeastern Me ...
s,
reddish egret
The reddish egret (''Egretta rufescens'') is a medium-sized heron that is a resident breeder in Central America, The Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of the United States (primarily Texas), and Mexico. The egret is known for its unusual ...
,
white-tailed hawk
The white-tailed hawk (''Geranoaetus albicaudatus'') is a large bird of prey species found in tropical and subtropical environments of the Americas.
Description
The white-tailed hawk is a large, stocky hawk. It is close in size to the Swainso ...
,
peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
, the
piping plover
The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from e ...
and
alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
s.
According to
Texas Parks and Wildlife
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...
, the following fish have been caught in the bay:
striped bass
The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...
,
gafftopsail catfish
The gafftopsail catfish (''Bagre marinus'') is found in the waters of the western central Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It has long, venomous spines which can cause painful wounds. It feeds on crustaceans an ...
,
Atlantic croaker
The Atlantic croaker (''Micropogonias undulatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae and is closely related to the black drum (''Pogonias cromis''), the silver perch (''Bairdiella chrysoura''), the spot cro ...
,
black drum
The black drum (''Pogonias cromis''), also known as the drum or drummer, is a saltwater fish similar to its cousin, the red drum. It is in the genus '' Pogonias''. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30 lb (2–14 kg) ran ...
,
red drum
The red drum (''Sciaenops ocellatus''), also known as redfish, channel bass, puppy drum, spottail bass, or simply red, is a game fish found in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to northern Mexi ...
,
southern flounder
The southern (or armless) flounders are a small family, Achiropsettidae, of flounders found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. There are four genera, each with one species.
The bodies of southern flounders are greatly compressed, with both ...
,
barred grunt,
hake
The term hake refers to fish in the:
* Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans
* Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans
Hake
Hake is in the same taxonomic order (Gad ...
,
skipjack herring,
crevalle jack
The crevalle jack (''Caranx hippos''), also known as the common jack, black-tailed trevally, couvalli jack, black cavalli, jack crevale, or yellow cavalli is a common species of large marine fish classified within the jack family, Carangidae. The ...
,
ladyfish
The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus '' Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders.
The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub ...
,
Gulf menhaden
The Gulf menhaden (''Brevoortia patronus'') is a small marine filter-feeding fish belonging to the family Clupeidae. The range of Gulf menhaden encompasses the entirety of the Gulf of Mexico nearshore waters, with the exception of the extreme e ...
,
pigfish,
smooth puffer,
sand seatrout
''Cynoscion arenarius'' (sand seatrout, sand weakfish or, as it is also known, white trout) is a common species of drum fish found in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean. While not especially popular or targeted, it is still known as ...
,
spotted seatrout
''Cynoscion nebulosus'', the spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to Florida. While most of thes ...
,
blacktip shark,
gray snapper,
southern stingray
The southern stingray (''Hypanus americanus'') is a whiptail stingray found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to southern Brazil. It has a flat, diamond-shaped disc, with a mud brown, olive, and gr ...
,
Gulf toadfish and
tripletail.
The bay serves as a nursery for
finfish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...
, shrimp and crabs.
Industry
![Harbor Palacios Texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Harbor_Palacios_Texas.jpg)
The Matagorda Bay system is a renowned fishing location in the region, due to its status as a nutrient-rich estuary. The mainstays of the settlements on the bay include seafood processing, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism.
Commercial fishermen specialize in oyster, blue crab, and
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
.
Port Lavaca is the national leader in the processing of shrimp,
and passed four million tons of seafood through its port in 1985 alone.
Palacios houses the largest blue crab processing plant in the United States, and is home to the only individually quick frozen shrimp plant in Texas.
Recreational fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...
also contributes to the local economies via tourism.
Tourists often flock to the Port Lavaca State Fishing Pier, which is a major point of interest for fishermen. Other activities for visitors include hunting, oyster roasts, beach combing
and birding.
Several manufacturing complexes have been erected along the bay, which employ local residents. The
Aluminum Company of America
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
,
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befor ...
,
Du Pont, and
Formosa Plastics
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, News media, press and Western literature, literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of ...
all established plants in
Point Comfort.
The
South Texas Nuclear Generating Station
The South Texas Project Electric Generating Station (also known as STP, STPEGS, South Texas Project), is a nuclear power station southwest of Bay City, Texas, United States. STP occupies a site west of the Colorado River about southwest of Houst ...
is found in nearby
Bay City.
Petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
were discovered in the bay in the 1930s.
Maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
,
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
s, turf, and rice grow well around the bay, especially in the fertile delta region.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Bays of Texas
Bodies of water of Calhoun County, Texas
Bodies of water of Matagorda County, Texas
Colorado River (Texas)
Estuaries of Texas