Glossary of Terms

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.

Dunes within the coastal upland, immediately landward of the active beach.

The wearing away of coastal lands, usually by wave attack, tidal or littoral currents, or wind. Coastal erosion is synonymous with shoreline (vegetation line) retreat.

The low-lying, gently-sloping area landward of the beach often containing fossil sands deposited during previously higher sea levels.

Collective term covering the action of natural forces on the shoreline, and near shore seabed.

A zone directly adjacent to the waterline, where only coast related activities take place. Usually this is a strip of some 100 m wide. In this strip, coastal defense activities take place. In this strip often there may be restrictions to land use.

The low-lying area landward of the beach that sometimes contains unconsolidated sediments.The coastal upland is bounded by the hinterland (the higher-elevation areas dominated by bedrock and steeper slopes).

The transition zone where the land meets water; the region that is directly influenced by marine hydrodynamic processes. Extends offshore to the continental shelf break and onshore to the first major change in topography above the reach of major storm waves.

The integrated and general development of the coastal zone. Coastal Zone Management is not restricted to coastal defense works, but includes also coastal development in economical, ecological and social terms.

The line that forms the boundary between the coast and the shore. Commonly referred to as the line that forms the boundary between the land and the water (especially the water of a sea or ocean, also called the shoreline).

A rock fragment between 64 and 256 mm in diameter usually rounded.

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.

Any current in the littoral zone caused primarily by wave action; e.g., longshore current, rip current.

The littoral current in the breaker zone that moves essentially parallel to the shore. Usually generated by waves breaking at an angle to the shoreline.

One of a series of short ridges on the foreshore separated by crescent-shaped troughs spaced at more or less regular intervals. Between these cusps are hollows. The cusps are spaced at somewhat uniform distances along beaches. They represent a combination of constructive and destructive processes.