Glossary of Terms
The zone within which waves approaching the coastline commence breaking, typically in water depths of between 5 and 10 meters for ocean coasts, but sometimes in shallower water.
A man-made structure protecting a shore area, harbor, anchorage, or basin from waves.
A parcel or strip of land that is designed and designated to permanently remain vegetated in an undisturbed and natural condition to protect an adjacent aquatic or wetland site from upland impacts, to provide habitat for wildlife and to afford limited public access.
The county required seaward limit of major construction for a coastal property. Building setbacks in Barbados are set at 30m (100 feet) from the high water mark for beaches and 10m (30 feet) for cliffs measured from the landward point of under cut.
A fine grained, plastic, sediment with a typical grain size less than 0.004 mm. Possesses electromagnetic properties which bind the grains together to give a bulk strength or cohesion.
The characteristic weather of a region, particularly regarding temperature and precipitation, averaged over some significant internal of time (years).
A strip of land of indefinite width (may be several kilometers) that extends from the shoreline inland to the first major change in terrain features. The part of a country regarded as near the coast.
The land and sea area bordering the shoreline. An entity of land and water affected by the biological and physical processes of both the sea and land and defined broadly for the purpose of managing the use of natural resources.
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.
General term used to encompass both coast protection against erosion and sea defense against flooding.