CAISSON
Concrete box-type structure.
CALCAREOUS (cal-car'-e-ous)
Containing calcium carbonate (CaCO3), chiefly as the minerals calcite and aragonite. When applied to rock, it implies
that as much as 50 percent of the rock is carbonate (e.g., calcareous sand).
CALIFORNIA CURRENT
A deep-ocean boundary current that flows south-southeasterly along the U.S. west coast. The current is shallow,
broad, and slow moving carrying cold, nutrient poor waters toward the equator.
CALM
The condition of the water surface when there are no wind waves or swell.
CANAL (ca-nal')
(1) An artificial watercourse cut through a land area for such uses as navigation and irrigation. (2) A long, narrow
channel or arm of the sea connecting two larger stretches of water, usually extending far inland (sometimes between
islands or between an island and the mainland), and approximately uniform in width. (3) A term used along the
Atlantic coast of the U.S. for a sluggish coastal stream.
CANYON (can'-yon)
A relatively narrow, deep depression with steep side slopes, the bottom of which continuously grades downward.
May be underwater (submarine) or on land (subaerial).
CAPE
An extensive, somewhat rounded irregularity of land jutting seaward from the coast into a large body of water, either
as a peninsula (e.g., Cape Cod, MA) or as a projecting point (e.g., Cape Hatteras, NC).
CAPILLARY WAVE (cap'-il-lar'-y)
A wave whose wavelength is shorter than 1.7 cm, and whose propagation velocity is controlled mainly by the surface
tension of the liquid in which the wave is traveling.
CARBONATE (car'-bon-ate)
Sediment formed by the organic or inorganic precipitation from aqueous solution of carbonates of calcium,
magnesium, or iron.
CARTOGRAPHY (car-tog'-ra-phy)
The art of map or chart construction, and the science on which it is based. It includes the whole series of map-making
operations, from the actual surveying of the ground to the final printing of the map.
CATCHMENT AREA
(catch'-ment)
The area that gathers water originating as precipitation and contributes it to a particular stream channel or system of
channels, or to a lake, reservoir, or other body of water.
CAUSTIC (caus'-tic)
In refraction of waves, the name given to the curve to which adjacent orthogonals of waves refracted by a bottom
whose contour lines are curved, are tangents. The occurrence of a caustic always marks a region of crossed
orthogonals and high wave convergence.
CAY
A small, low, coastal island or emergent reef of sand or coral; a flat mound of sand and admixed coral fragments, built
up on a reef flat at or just above high-tide level. Term is used especially in the West Indies where it is pronounced
''key'' and sometimes spelled kay.
CELERITY (ce-ler'-i-ty)
Wave speed; the rate at which a surface wave travels in still water from a point of disturbance.
CENTER POINT
(1) The principal point of a photograph. (2) The central point from which a map projection is geometrically based.
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CENTRAL PRESSURE INDEX (CPI)
The estimated minimum barometric pressure in the eye (approximate center) of a hurricane. The CPI is considered
the most stable index of intensity of hurricane wind velocities in the periphery of the storm; the highest wind speeds
are associated with storms having the lowest CPI.
CHANNEL (chan'-nel)
(1) A natural or artificial waterway of perceptible extent which either periodically or continuously contains moving
water, or which forms a connecting link between two bodies of water. (2) The deeper part of a moving body of water
(as a bay, estuary, or strait) through which the main current flows or which affords the best passage through an area
otherwise too shallow for navigation; it is often deepened by dredging. Also, a navigable waterway between islands or
other obstructions, as on a lake. (3) A relatively narrow body of water, wider and larger than a strait, between two
close landmasses and connecting two larger bodies of water (e.g., the English Channel).
CHANNEL BAR
An elongate deposit of sand or gravel located in the course of a stream or tidal channel.
CHANNEL CAPACITY
The maximum flow that a channel can transmit without overflowing its banks.
CHANNEL CENTERLINE
The line of the fastest current or the strongest flow of a channel; it generally coincides with (and is sometimes known
as) the thalweg. See thalweg.
CHANNEL ENCROACHMENT
The process by which an inlet channel migrates towards an otherwise relatively stable feature (e.g., inlet structure,
embankment, spit).
CHANNEL EROSION
Erosion in which material is removed by water flowing in well-defined courses; erosion caused by channel flow.
CHANNEL FLOW
Movement of surface runoff in a long narrow trough-like depression bounded by banks or valley walls that slope
toward the channel.
CHANNEL MEANDER
The process by which a portion of an inlet channel turns or winds along an indirect course.
CHANNEL MIGRATION
The process by which an inlet channel collectively moves in a particular direction.
CHANNEL-MOUTH BAR
A bar built where a stream enters a body of standing water, resulting from decreased flow velocity.
CHART
A special-purpose map, especially one designed for purposes of navigation, such as a hydrographic chart or
bathymetric chart.
CHART DATUM
The plane or level to which soundings (or elevations) or tide heights are referenced (usually low water). The surface
is called a tidal datum when referred to a certain phase of tide.
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
The process of weathering by which chemical reactions (hydrolysis, hydration, oxidation, carbonation, ion exchange,
and solution) transform rocks and minerals into new chemical combinations that are stable under conditions
prevailing at or near the Earth's surface.
CHENIER (che'-nier)
A long, narrow, wooded beach ridge or sandy hummock, 1 to 4 m high, forming roughly parallel to a prograding
shoreline seaward of marsh and mud-flat deposits (as along the coast of SW Louisiana), enclosed on the seaward
side by fine-grained sediments, and resting on foreshore or mudflat deposits. It is well drained and fertile, often
supporting large evergreen oaks or pines on higher areas; widths range from 45 to 450 m and its length may be
several tens of kilometers.
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CHENIER PLAIN
A strand plain, occupied by cheniers and intervening mud flats with marsh and swamp vegetation. Chenier plains
develop when (1) substantial quantities of river-supplied mud become available for nearshore marine transport and
coastal mudflat deposition; (2) a balance exists between longshore sand transport, deposition, and erosional sandwinnowing; (3) these two conditions alternate.
CHIMNEY
(chim'-ney)
An angular, columnar mass of rock, smaller than a stack, isolated on a wave-cut platform by differential wave erosion
of a sea cliff.
CHOP
Short-crested waves that develop during a moderate breeze and break easily at the crest (also choppy sea).
CIRCADIAN
(cir-ca'-di-an)
Said of a time period approximately 24 hours in length, or of an event occurring at roughly 24-hour or daily intervals.
CIVIL ENGINEERING
(civ'-il)
A branch of engineering concerned primarily with the investigation, design, construction, operation, and maintenance
of civil-works projects (public and private) such as highways, bridges, tunnels, waterways, harbors, dams, water
supply, irrigation, railways, airports, buildings, sewage disposal, and drainage.
CLAPOTIS
The French equivalent for a type of standing wave. In American usage, it is usually associated with the standing
wave phenomenon caused by the reflection of a non-breaking wave train from a structure with a face that is vertical
or nearly vertical. Full clapotis is one with 100 percent reflection of the incident wave; partial clapotis is one with less
than 100 percent reflection.
CLARKE ELLIPSOID OF 1866
The ellipsoid of reference for geodetic surveys in North and Central America, the Hawaiian Islands, and the
Philippines. It was the basis of the North American datum of 1927.
CLASTIC SEDIMENT (clas'-tic)
A sediment formed by the accumulation of fragments derived from preexisting rocks or minerals and transported as
separate particles to their places of deposition by purely mechanical agents (such as water, wind, ice, and gravity);
gravel, sand, mud, clay.
CLAY
(1) A rock or mineral fragment or a detrital particle of any composition (often a crystalline fragment of a clay mineral),
smaller than a very fine silt grain, having a diameter less than 1/256 mm (4 microns, or 0.00016 in., or 8 phi units).
This size is approximately the upper limit of size of a particle that can show colloidal properties. (2) A loose, earthy,
extremely fine-grained, natural sediment or soft rock composed primarily of clay-size or colloidal particles and
characterized by high plasticity and by a considerable content of clay minerals and subordinate amounts of finely
divided quartz, decomposed feldspar, carbonates, ferruginous matter, and other impurities; it forms a plastic,
moldable mass when finely ground and mixed with water, retains its shape on drying, and becomes firm, rocklike, and
permanently hard on heating or firing. (3) A term that is commonly applied to any soft, adhesive, fine-grained deposit
(such as loam or siliceous silt) and to earthy material, especially when wet (such as mud or mire).
CLIFF
Any high, very steep to perpendicular or overhanging face of rock; a precipice. A cliff is usually produced by erosion,
less commonly by faulting. See: Sea Cliff.
CLIMATE (cli'-mate)
The characteristic weather of a region, particularly regarding temperature and precipitation, averaged over some
significant internal of time (years).
CLOSURE DEPTH
(clo'-sure)
The water depth beyond which repetitive profile surveys (collected over several years) do not detect significant
vertical sea bed changes, generally considered the seaward limit of littoral transport. The depth can be determined
from repeated cross-shore profile surveys or estimated using formulas based on wave statistics. Note that this does
not imply the lack of sediment motion beyond this depth.
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CNOIDAL WAVE
A type of wave in shallow water (i.e., where the depth of water is less than 1/8 to 1/10 the wavelength). The surface
profile is expressed in terms of the Jacobian elliptic function cn u; hence the term cnoidal.
CO-TIDAL LINES
Lines which link all the points where the tide is at the same stage (or phase) of its cycle.
COARSE CLAY
A geologic term for a clay particle having a diameter in the range of 1/512 to 1/256 mm (2-4 microns, or 9 to 8 phi
units). Also, a loose aggregate of clay consisting of coarse clay particles.
COARSE SAND
(1) A geologic term for a sand particle having a diameter in the range of 0.5-1 mm (500-1000 microns, or 1 to zero phi
units). Also, a loose aggregate of sand consisting of coarse sand particles. (2) An engineering term for a sand particle
having a diameter in the range of 2 mm (retained on U.S. standard sieve no.10) to 4.76 mm (passing U.S. standard
sieve no. 4). (3) A soil term used in the U.S. for a sand particle having a diameter in the range of 0.5-1 mm.
COARSE SILT
A geologic term for a silt particle having a diameter in the range of 1/32 to 1/16 mm (31-62 microns, or 5 to 4 phi
units). Also, a loose aggregate of silt consisting of coarse silt particles.
COAST
(1) 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. (2) The part of a country regarded as near the coast.
COASTAL AREA
(coast'-al)
The land and sea area bordering the shoreline.
COASTAL CURRENTS
(1) 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. (2) For navigational purposes, the term is used to designate a
current in coastwise shipping lanes where the tidal current is frequently rotary.
COASTAL DEFENSE
General term used to encompass both coast protection against erosion and sea defense against flooding.
COASTAL EMBAYMENT
(1) The formation of a bay, as by the sea overflowing a depression of the land near the mouth of a river. (2) A bay,
either the deep indentation or recess of a shoreline, or the large body of water thus formed.
COASTAL ENERGY
The total energy, including that of wind, waves, tides, and currents, available for work along the coast. Most wellknown coasts are characterized as dominated by wave energy.
COASTAL FORCING
The natural processes that drive coastal hydro- and morphodynamics (e.g., winds, waves, tides, etc).
COASTAL GEOMORPHOLOGY
The study of the form and structure of coastal features.
COASTAL PLAIN
A low, generally broad plain that has its margin on an oceanic shore and its strata either horizontal or very gently
sloping toward the water, and that generally represents a strip of recently prograded or emerged sea floor.
COASTAL PROCESSES
Collective term covering the action of natural forces on the shoreline and in the nearshore.
COASTAL STRIP
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 the coastal defense activities take place. In this strip, often there are restrictions regarding
land use.
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COASTAL ZONE
The transition zone where the land meets water, the region that is directly influenced by marine and lacustrine
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. On barrier coasts, includes the bays and lagoons between the
barrier and the mainland.
COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
(1) Includes coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands designated by a State as being included within its approved
coastal zone management program under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. The coastal zone may include
open waters, estuaries, bays, inlets, lagoons, marshes, swamps, mangroves, beaches, dunes, bluffs, and coastal
uplands. Coastal-zone uses can include housing, recreation, wildlife habitat, resource extraction, fishing, aquaculture,
transportation, energy generation, commercial development, and waste disposal. (2) Legal definition for Coastal Zone
Management. Coastal waters (including the lands therein and thereunder) and adjacent shorelands (including the
waters therein and thereunder), strongly influenced by each and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal
states, and includes islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches. The zone
extends, in Great Lakes waters, to the international boundary between the United States and Canada and in other
areas seaward to the outer limit of the United States territorial sea. The zone extends inland from the shorelines only
to the extent necessary to control shorelands, the uses of which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal
waters. Excluded from the coastal zone are lands the use of which is by law subject solely to the discretion of or
which is held in trust by the Federal Government, its officers, or agents.
COASTLINE
(1) The line that forms the boundary between land and water, especially the water of a sea or ocean. (2) A general
term to describe the appearance or configuration of the land along a coast, especially as viewed from the sea; it
includes bays, but crosses narrow inlets and river mouths.
COBBLE
(cob'-ble)
A rock fragment larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder, having a diameter in the range of 64-256 mm (2.510 in., or -6 to -8 phi units, or a size between that of a tennis ball and that of a volleyball), being somewhat rounded or
otherwise modified by abrasion in the course of transport.
COFFERDAM
A temporary watertight structure enclosing all or part of the construction area so that construction can proceed in the
dry.
COHESIONLESS
(co-he'-sion-less)
A soil that has relatively low shear strength when air-dried and low cohesion when wet (e.g., a sandy soil).
COHESIVE SEDIMENT
(co-he'-sive)
Sediment containing significant proportion of clays, the electromagnetic properties of which cause the sediment to
bind together.
COLLAPSING BREAKER
(col-laps'-ing)
A type of wave where breaking occurs over the lower half of wave, with minimal air pocket and usually no splash-up.
Bubbles and foam present.
COLLOID
(col'-loid)
A particle-size range smaller than 0.00024 mm, smaller than clay size.
COMBER
(comb'-er)
(1) A long, curling, deep-water ocean wave whose high, breaking crest (much larger than a whitecap) is pushed
forward by a strong wind. (2) A long-period breaker.
COMPETENCE
(com'-pe-tence)
The ability of a wind or water current to transport detritus, in terms of particle size rather than amount, measured as
the diameter of the largest particles transported.
COMPLEX SPIT
A large recurved spit with secondary spits developed at its end. Example: Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
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CONFIDENCE INTERVAL
(con'-fi-dence)
The range of values that has a designated confidence level, or degree of assurance, of including the true value, or
accepted reference value, for a sample of a given size, n.
CONFIDENCE LEVEL
The probability that a confidence interval includes the true value or accepted reference value.
CONFIDENCE LIMIT
Either the upper or the lower value of the range within which an actual measurement or parameter will fall with a
stated probability.
CONFLUENCE
(con'-flu-ence)
The junction of two or more waterway tributaries or streams .
CONSOLIDATION
(con-sol'-i-da'-tion)
(1) The gradual reduction in volume and increase in density of a soil mass in response to increased load or effective
compressive stress (e.g., the squeezing of fluids from pore spaces). (2) Any process whereby loosely aggregated,
soft, or liquid earth materials become firm and coherent rock; specifically, the lithification of loose sediments to form a
sedimentary rock.
CONSTITUENT
One of the harmonic elements in a mathematical expression for the tide-producing force and in corresponding
formulas for the tide or tidal current. Each constituent represents a periodic change or variation in the relative
positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
CONTINENTAL SHELF
(con-ti-nen'-tal)
(1) That part of the continental margin that is between the shoreline and the continental slope (or, when there is no
noticeable continental slope, a depth of 200 m). It is characterized by its very gentle slope of 0.1o. (2) The area under
active littoral processes during the Holocene period.
CONTINENTAL SLOPE
That part of the continental margin that is between the continental shelf and the continental rise (or oceanic trench). It
is characterized by its relatively steep slope of 3-6o.
CONTOUR (con'-tour)
(1) An imaginary line, or a line on a map or chart, that connects points of equal value (e.g., elevation of the land
surface above or below some reference value or datum plane, generally sea level). Contours commonly are used to
depict topographic or structural surfaces; they also can show the laterally variable properties of sediments or any
other phenomenon that can be quantified. (2) The outline or configuration of a surface feature seen two-dimensionally
(e.g., the contour of a mountain pass or a coastline).
CONTOUR INTERVAL
The difference in value between two adjacent contours; specifically, the vertical distance between the elevations
represented by two successive contour lines on a topographic map. It is generally a regular unit chosen according to
the amount of vertical distance involved and the scale of the map, but it need not be constant over the entire map (a
variable contour interval may be used for optimum portrayal of relief features).
CONTOUR LINE
(1) A line drawn on a map or chart representing a contour. Present usage makes contour and contour line
synonymous: a line connecting points of equal value (generally elevation) above or below some reference value such
as a datum plane. (2) A term used loosely in the general sense of an isopleth; for example, a line (on a map)
connecting points of equal magnitude of a mass property of a sediment (as of porosity, permeability, color, or
thickness, or of size, shape, or roundness of sedimentary particles).
CONTROL POINT
(con-trol')
An accurately located point, mark, or object on the ground, whose horizontal and/or vertical position is used as a
base for a dependent survey; any surveyed point used for horizontal and/or vertical control.
CONTROL STATION
Any station in a horizontal and/or vertical control system that is identified on a photograph and used for correlating the
data shown on that photograph.
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CONTROL SURVEY
A survey that provides horizontal- and/or vertical-position data for the support or control of subordinate surveys or for
mapping (e.g., a survey that provides the geographic positions and/or plane coordinates of triangulation and traverse
stations and the elevations of bench marks). Control surveys are classified according to their precision and accuracy.
CONTROLLING DEPTH
The shallowest depth in the navigable parts of a waterway, governing the maximum draft of vessels that can enter.
CONVERGENCE
(con-ver'-gence)
(1) In wave refraction phenomena, the decreasing of the distance between orthogonals in the direction of wave travel.
Denotes an area of increasing wave height and energy concentration. (2) In wind-setup phenomena, the increase in
setup observed over that which would occur in an equivalent rectangular basin of uniform depth, caused by changes
in planform or depth; also, the decrease in basin width or depth causing such increase in setup.
CORAL
(cor'-al)
(1) (Biology) A general name for any of a large group of bottom-dwelling, sessile, marine invertebrate organisms
(polyps) that belong to the class Anthozoa (phylum Coelenterata), are common in warm intertropical modern seas
and abundant in the fossil record in all periods later than the Cambrian, produce external skeletons of calcium
carbonate, and exist as solitary individuals or grow in colonies. (2) (Geology) A hard calcareous substance consisting
of the continuous skeleton secreted by coral polyps for their support and habitation, and found in single specimens
growing plantlike on the sea bottom or in extensive solidified accumulations (coral reefs). May also include
calcareous algae and other organisms producing calcareous secretions, such as bryozoans and hydrozoans.
CORAL REEF
A coral-algal mound or ridge of in-place coral colonies and skeletal fragments, carbonate sand, and organicallysecreted calcium carbonate. A coral reef is built up around a wave-resistant framework, usually of older coral
colonies.
CORE
(1) A cylindrical sample extracted from a beach or seabed to investigate the types and depths of sediment layers. (2)
An inner, often much less permeable portion of a breakwater or barrier beach.
CORIOLIS EFFECT
(Co-ri-o'-lis)
Force due to the Earth's rotation, capable of generating currents. It causes moving bodies to be deflected to the right
in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The "force" is proportional to the speed and
latitude of the moving object. It is zero at the equator and maximum at the poles.
COVE
(1) A small narrow sheltered bay, inlet, creek, or recess in a coast, often inside a larger embayment; it usually affords
anchorage to small craft. (2) A small, often circular, wave-cut indentation in a cliff; it usually has a restricted or narrow
entrance. (3) A fairly broad, looped embayment in a lake shoreline. (4) A shallow tidal river, or the backwater near the
mouth of a tidal river.
COVER LAYER
The outer layer used in a rubble system as protection against external hydraulic loads.
CREEK
(1) A term for a small inlet, narrow bay, or arm of the sea, longer than it is wide, and narrower and extending farther
into the land than a cove. The term is used in the U.S. in names given during the earliest period of English
colonization for a narrow recess in the shore of the sea, a river, or a lake, and often offering port or anchorage
facilities for vessels. (2) A small, narrow tidal inlet or estuary, especially on a low-lying coast or on the lower reaches
of a wide river.
CRENULATE SHORELINE (cren'-u-late)
An irregular shoreline, characterized by wavy lines and sharp headlands, developed during a youthful stage of
submergence by differential wave erosion acting upon less resistant rocks.
CREST
Highest point on a beach face, breakwater, or sea wall.
CREST LENGTH (WAVE)
The length of a wave along its crest.
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CROSS-BEDDING
(cross-bed'-ding)
An arrangement of relatively thin layers (>1 cm thickness) of sediment inclined at an angle to more nearly horizontal
bedding planes of the larger sedimentary unit.
CROSS-SHORE
Perpendicular to the shoreline.
CROWN WALL
Concrete superstructure on a rubble mound.
CURRENT
(cur'-rent)
(1) A horizontal movement or continuous flow of water in a given direction with a more or less uniform velocity,
producing a perceptible mass transport, set in motion by winds, waves, tides, gravity, or differences in temperature
and density, and of a permanent or seasonal nature. (2) The part of a fluid body that is moving continuously in a
definite direction, often with a velocity much swifter than the average, or in which the progress of the fluid is
principally concentrated. (3) Ocean currents can be classified in a number of different ways. Some important types
include the following: (a) Periodic - due to the effect of the tides; such Currents may be rotating rather than having a
simple back and forth motion. The currents accompanying tides are known as tidal currents; (b) Temporary - due to
seasonal winds; (c) Permanent or ocean - constitute a part of the general ocean circulation. The term drift current is
often applied to a slow broad movement of the oceanic water; (d) Nearshore - caused principally by waves breaking
along a shore.
CURRENT METER
An instrument for measuring the velocity of a current.
CUSP
One of a series of sharp, seaward-projecting points of beach material, built by wave action and separated from its
neighbors by smoothly curved shallow re-entrants. Cusps are spaced at more or less regular intervals along the
shoreline, and generally at right angles to it; distance between them ranges from less than a meter to many
kilometers. Syn: beach cusp.
CUSPATE BAR
(cusp'-ate)
A seaward-pointing, crest-shaped bar uniting with the shore at each end. It may be formed by a single spit growing
from the shore and then turning back to meet the shore, or by two spits growing obliquely from the shore and
converging to form a bar of sharply cuspate form.
CUSPATE FORELAND
The largest cusp, occurring as a cape or as a broadly triangular point of sand or shingle, with the apex pointing
seaward, along an open coast. On some coasts, cuspate forelands measure many kilometers from apex to apex and
extend seaward for several kilometers. They are formed by the convergence of regional littoral drift systems, or by the
progradation of cuspate bars. Examples: Cape Canaveral, Florida and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
CUSPATE SPIT
(1) A prominent point commonly extending from a barrier island into a bay or lagoon; the distance between the
crescentic tips is 2 km or more. (2) The spit that forms in the lee of a shoal or offshore feature (breakwater, island,
rock outcrop) by waves that are refracted and/or diffracted around the offshore feature.
CYCLOIDAL WAVE
A steep, symmetrical wave whose crest forms an angle of 120 degrees and whose form is that of a cycloid. A
trochoidal wave of maximum steepness. See trochoidal wave.
CYCLONE
(cy'-clone)
An atmospheric low-pressure system with a closed, roughly circular wind motion that is counterclockwise in the
Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern. In the Indian Ocean, the term refers to the powerful storms
called hurricanes in the Atlantic.
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