Nutrients

Substances that are essential for the growth of marine organisms that perform primary production (algae, bacteria, and plants). Excess nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, can be major pollutants.

Glossary of Terms

Plunge Point

For a plunging wave, the point at which the wave curls over and falls.

The final breaking point of the waves just before they rush up on the beach.

Dune Walkover

Light construction that provides pedestrian access without trampling dune vegetation.

Ridge, beach

A nearly continuous mound of beach material that has been shaped by wave or other action. Ridges may occur singly or as a series of approximately parallel deposits.

Seawall

A structure, often concrete or stone, built along a portion of a coast to prevent erosion and other damage by wave action. Often it retains earth against its shoreward face.

A structure separating land and water areas to alleviate the risk of flooding by the sea. Generally shore-parallel, although some reclamation seawalls may include lenghts that are nromal or oblique to the (original) shoreline.
A vertical or near-vertical type of shoreline armouring characterised by a smooth surface.

Suspended Load

The material moving in suspension in a fluid, kept up by the upward components of the turbulent currents or by colloidal suspension.

Step

The nearly horizontal section which more or less divides the beach from the shoreface.

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Nutrients