Aquaculture

The cultivation of aquatic organisms.

Glossary of Terms

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.

Profile, beach

The intersection of the ground surface with a vertical plane; typically perpendicular to the local shoreline, and may extend from behind the dune line or the top of a bluff to well seaward of the breaker zone.

Current, Longshore

The littoral current in the breaker zone that moves essentially parallel to the shore. Usually generated by waves breaking at an angle to the shoreline.

Downdrift

Flow in the direction of net longshore sediment transport.

Coastal Current

Those currents which flow roughly parallel to the shore and constitute a relatively uniform drift in the deeper water adjacent to the surf zone. These currents may be tidal currents, transient, wind-driven currents, or currents associated with the distribution of mass in local waters.

For navigational purposes, the term is used to designate a current in coastwise shipping lanes where the tidal current is frequently rotary.

Patch Reef

a mound like or flat-topped organic reef, generally less than 1 km across, frequently forming part of a larger reef complex.

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Aquaculture