There are currently 12 terms in this directory beginning with the letter L.
Leeward
The direction toward which the wind is blowing; The direction toward which waves are travelling.
Littoral
Of or pertaining to a shore, especially of the sea. Often used as a general term for the coastal zone influenced by wave action, or, more specifically, the shore zone between the high and low water marks.
Littoral Cell
A reach of the coast that is isolated sedimentologically from adjacent coastal reaches and that features its own sources and sinks. Isolation is typically caused by protruding headlands, submarine canyons, inlets, and some river mouths that prevent littoral sediment from one cell to pass into the next.
Littoral System
The geographical system subject to frequent or infrequent beach processes. The littoral system is the area from the landward edge of the coastal upland to the seaward edge of the nearshore zone.
Littoral Transport
The movement of beach material in the littoral zone by waves and currents. Includes movement parallel (longshore drift) and sometimes perpendicular (cross-shore transport) to the shore; Also referred to as littoral drift.
Littoral Transport Rate
The rate of transport of sedimentary material parallel or perpendicular to the shore in the littoral zone. Usually expressed in cubic metres (cubic yards) per year. Commonly synonymous with longshore transport rate.
Littoral Zone
In beach terminology, an indefinite zone extending seaward from the shoreline to just beyond the breaker zone.
Longshore Transport
Sediment transport down the beach (parallel to the shoreline) caused by longshore currents and/or waves approaching obliquely to the shoreline.