Glossary of Terms
The management of a natural resource for the protection, maintenance, rehabilitation, restoration, and/or enhancement of populations and ecosystems.
An anthropogenic increase in the concentration of a substance in the marine environment.
The zone bordering a continent extending from the line of permanent immersion to the depth, usually about 100 m to 200 m, where there is a marked or rather steep descent toward the great depths of the ocean.
The region of the oceanic bottom that extends outward from the shoreline, with an average slope of less than 1:100, to a line where the gradient begins to exceed 1:40 (the continental slope).
The declivity from the offshore border of the continental shelf to oceanic depths. It is characterized by a marked increase in slope.
Colonial animals in the phylum Cnidaria; mainly those that build reefs. "Coral" is also often used to refer to the hard, calcareous coral skeleton.
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.
A coral-algal mound or ridge of in-place coral colonies and skeletal fragments, carbonate sand, and organically-secreted calcium carbonate. A coral reef is built up around a wave-resistant framework, usually of older coral colonies.
Extensive limestone structures built largely by corals. They occur primarily in shallow tropical and provide habitat for a large variety of other marine life forms.
Highest point on a beach face, breakwater, or seawall.
The highest part of a wave.
One of the offshore currents flowing generally parallel to the shoreline in the deeper water beyond and near the surf zone; these are not related genetically to waves and resulting surf, but may be related to tides, winds, or distribution of mass.