East Coast Landscape

The relatively undeveloped East Coast of Barbados is renowned for its natural beauty and pounding waves. Spectacular vistas are easy to find on this coast, a large portion of which has been designated as a national park under the Physical Development Plan administered by the Town and Country Development Planning Office.

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Glossary of Terms

Nearshore Current System

The current system characterised primarily by wave action in and near the breaker zone, and which consists of four parts: the shoreward mass transport of water; longshore currents; seaward return flow, including rip currents; and the longshore movement of the expanding heads of rip currents. See also nearshore circulation.

Seagrass Beds

Benthic communities, usually on shallow, sandy or muddy bottoms, dominated by grasslike marine plants.

Surf

Collective term for breakers.

The wave activity in the area between the shoreline and the outermost limit of breakers.
In literature, the term surf usually refers to the breaking waves on shore and on reefs when accompanied by a roaring noise caused by the larger waves breaking.

Inshore (zone)

In beach terminology, the zone of variable width extending from the low water line through the breaker zone.

Gabion

Steel wire-mesh basket to hold stones or crushed rock to protect a bank or bottom from erosion. Structures composed of masses of rocks, rubble or masonry held tightly together usually by wire mesh so as to form blocks or walls. Sometimes used (although not recommended) on heavy erosion coastal areas to retard wave action.

Rill Marks

Tiny drainage channels in a beach caused by the flow seaward of water left in the sands of the upper part of the beach after the retreat of the tide or after the dying down of storm waves.

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East Coast Landscape