Primary production

The process in which organisms synthesize organic matter from inorganic materials, or the organic matter itself.

Glossary of Terms

A groyne constructed such that sand cannot pass through the structure (but sand may still move over or around it).

The input of non-calcareous fine-grained sediments to the nearshore marine environment, or the settling out of fine-grained sediments on the sea floor.

The settling of fine-grained particles to the sea bottom.

Dune Walkover

Light construction that provides pedestrian access without trampling dune vegetation.

El Niño

Warm equatorial water which flows southward along the coast of Peru and Ecuador during February and March of certain years. It is caused by poleward motions of air and unusual water temperature patterns in the Pacific Ocean , which cause coastal downwelling, leading to the reversal in the normal north-flowing cold coastal currents. During many El Niño years, storms, rainfall, and other meteorological phenomena in the Western Hemisphere are measurably different than during non- El Niño years.

A warm current that usually appears around Christmas off the coast of Ecuador and Peru . It is often used to refer to episodic (3-5 year) events when the current is particularly intense and dominates the local population of organisms (the abundance of fish in particular). Such events lead to wider regional or global ocean-atmospheric perturbations whose manifestations range from increased sea surface temperatures in the tropical East Pacific to aberrant rainfall patterns. (see also ENSO ).

Offshore Current

Any current in the offshore zone. Also refers to any current flowing away from shore.

Backshore

The generally dry portion of the beach between the berm crest and the vegetation line that is submerged only during very high sea levels and eroded only during moderate to strong wave events.

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Primary production