Photo Gallery

Glossary of Terms

(Also called non-point sources) Multiple, not easily identifiable sources of pollution (e.g., agriculture, urban areas).

Mean High Water (MHW)

The average height of the high water over a 19-year period. For shorter periods of observations, corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and reduce the results to the equivalent of a mean 19-year value. All high water heights are included in the average where the type of tide is either semi-diurnal or mixed.

Coral Bleaching

A phenomenon in which corals under stress (e.g., by elevated water temperature) expel their symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) in large numbers, or the concentration of algal photosynthetic pigments decreases. As a result, the corals' white skeletons show through their tissue and they appear bleached.

Bathymetry

The measurement of water depths in oceans, seas, and lakes; also information derived from such measurements .

Pocket Beach

A beach, usually small, in a coastal reentrant or between two littoral barriers (often rocky headlands).

Storm Surge

A temporary rise in sea level associated with a storm's low barometric pressure and onshore winds.

Search form

You are here

Photo Gallery