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Glossary of Beach and Coastal Terms
Accretion: Slow addition to land by water-borne sediment
Amplitude: Wave height
Artificial Reef: Material of any sort manually placed on the ocean floor to create an ecological habitat
Bar: An offshore ridge or mound of sand, gravel, or other unconsolidated material which is submerged, at least at high tide
Bathymetry: The measurement of depths of water in oceans, seas and lakes. Also the information derived from such measurements
Beach Face: The section of the beach normally exposed to the action of wave uprush
Beach Nourishment: The process of replenishing a beach by artificial means
Beach Profile: A cross-section taken perpendicular to a given beach contour; the profile may include the face of a dune or seawall
Berm: On a beach: a nearly horizontal plateau on the beach face or backshore, formed by the deposition of beach material
Breaker: A wave that has become so steep that the crest of the wave topples forward, moving faster than the main body of the wave
Breaker Depth: The still water depth at the point where the wave breaks
Breakwater: A structure protecting a harbor, anchorage, or basin from waves
Bypassing: Hydraulic or mechanical movement of sand from the accreting updrift side to the eroding downdrift side of an inlet or harbor entrance
Coast: A strip of land of indefinite length and width that extends from the seashore inland to the first major change in terrain features
Coastal Management: The development of a strategic, long-term and sustainable land use policy, sometimes called shoreline management
Coastal Processes: Collective term covering the action of natural forces on the shoreline and the nearshore seabed
Coastline: Technically, the line that forms the boundary between the coast and the shore
Cobble: Rounded rocks ranging in diameter from approximately 64 to 256 mm
Cross-Shore: Perpendicular to the shoreline
Current: That portion of a stream of water which is moving with velocity much greater than the average or in which the progress of water is principally concentrated
Deep Water: Deep-water conditions are said to exist when the surf waves are not affected by conditions on the bottom
Depth: Vertical distance from still-water level to the bottom
Detached Breakwater: A breakwater without any coastal connection to the shore
Erosion: Wearing away of the land by natural forces (e.g. wave action, tidal currents or wind)
Escarpment: A more or less continuous line of cliffs or steep slopes facing in one general direction which are caused by erosion or faulting
Estuary: (1) The part of a river that is affected by tides.
(2) The region near a river mouth in which the fresh water of the
river mixes with the salt water of the sea
Feeder Beach: An artificially widened beach serving to nourish downdrift beaches
Fetch: The length of unobstructed open sea surface across which the wind can generate waves
Geotube: A long fabric cylinder filled with sediment used as a wall to retain sediment behind
Groin: A shore protection structure.
It is narrow in width (measured parallel to the shore) and its length may vary from tens to hundreds of meters ( extending from a point landward of the shoreline out into the water). Groins may be classified as permeable (with openings thorough them) or impermeable ( a solid or nearly solid structure through which sand cannot pass)
Hard Defenses: A general term applied to impermeable coastal defense structures of concrete, timber, steel, and masonry, which reflect a high proportion of incident wave energy
Headland: A land mass having a considerable elevation
Higher High Water (HHW): The higher of two high waters if any tidal day
Incident Wave: A wave moving landward
Inter-tidal: The zone between the high and low water marks
Jetty: On open seacoasts, a structure extending into a body of water to direct and confine the stream or tidal flow to a selected channel or to prevent shoaling
Kelp Bed: An area, typically nearshore, where substantial concentrations of kelp occur
Littoral Current: A current running parallel to the beach and generally caused by waves striking the shore at an angle
Littoral Drift: The sedimentary material moved in the littoral zone under the influence of waves and currents
Littoral Transport: The movement of littoral drift in the littoral zone by waves and currents
Littoral Zone: An indefinite zone extending seaward from the shoreline to just beyond the breaker zone
Longshore Current: A current located in a surf zone, moving generally parallel to the shoreline, generated by waves breaking at an angle with the shoreline, also called alongshore current
Longshore Drift: Movement of sediments approximately parallel to the shore
Nearshore: In beach terminology, an indefinite zone extending seaward from the shoreline well beyond the breaker zone
Nourishment: The process of replenishing a beach. It may be brought about naturally, by longshore transport, or artificially by the deposition of dredged materials
Recession: A continuing landward movement of the shoreline
Reef: A ridge of rock of other material lying just below the surface of the sea
Revetment: A facing of stone to protect an embankment, or shore structure against erosion by wave action or currents.
Run-up: The rush of water up a structure or beach on the breaking of a wave
Sandspit: A small sandy point of land or a narrow shoal projecting into a body of water from the shore
Scour Protection: Protection against erosion of the seabed in front of the toe
Seawall: A structure built along a portion of a coast primarily to prevent erosion and other damage by wave action. Generally more massive and capable of resisting greater wave forces than a bulkhead
Sediment Source: A point or area on a coast from which beach material arises, such as an eroding cliff or river mouth
Sediment Transport: The main agencies by which sedimentary materials are moved are: gravity; running water (rivers and streams); ice (glaciers); wind and the sea (currents and longshore drift)
Shoal: 1. noun - A detached area of any material except rock or coral 2. verb - To become shallow gradually
Shoreline Management: The development of strategic, long-term and sustainable coastal defense and land-use policy within a sediment cell
Slough: A minor sluggish waterway or estuarial creek, tributary to, or connecting, other streams or bodies of water, whose course is usually through lowlands or swamps
Soft Structure: Coastal structure composed of geotextile material rather than steel, rock, or concrete
Surf: The wave activity in the area between the shoreline and the outermost limits of breakers
Surf Zone: The zone of wave action extending from the water line (which varies with tide, surge, set-up, etc.) out to the most seaward point of the zone (breaker zone) at which waves approaching the coastline commence breaking, typically in water depths between 5 and 10 meters
Toe: The lower front (seaward) portion of a coastal structure.
Tidal Current: The alternating horizontal movement of water associated with the rise and fall of the tide caused by astronomical tide-producing forces
Tombolo: A bar or spit that connects or "ties" an island to the mainland or to another island
Wetland: An area of water supporting a wildlife habitat, sometimes tidally influenced.
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