| Beach nourishment |
The addition of material to portions of a beach where erosion or other mechanisms have depleted the native beach material; typically the material used for nourishment is similar to the existing beach sediment (e.g. fine sand, course sand, gravel, cobble) |
| Benthos |
Organisms that live on or in the bottom of a body of water |
| Benthic |
Of, relating to, or occurring at the bottom of a body of water |
| Borrow pit |
An excavated area where material has been dug for use as fill at another location |
| Bulk |
Loose cargo shipped in the cargo hold of a vessel without mark and count; examples include coal, grain and sulfur |
| Bulking factor |
A variable used to calculate the expansion of excavated material. Bulking factor = volume after excavation/volume before excavation.
Bulking factor can also be used to calculate the expansion of a dry material when water is added to it (such as the volume of dry cement when it is mixed with water). Estimated wet volume = dry volume * bulking factor. |
| Container (terminals) |
A truck trailer body that can be detached from the chassis for loading into a vessel, a railcar, or stacked in a container depot |
| Cultural eutrophication |
The increasing rate at which water bodies "die" by pollution from human activities (see Eutrophication) |
| Demersal |
Living near, deposited on, or sinking to the bottom of the sea (e.g., demersal fish eggs) |
| Detritivores |
Organisms that eat dead organic matter |
| EIR/EIS (Environmental impact report/ environmental impact statement) |
Documents that describe the positive and negative environmental effects of a proposed action (such as building a road or restoring a lagoon) and describe possible alternatives. The EIS is used by the federal government and addresses social issues as well as environmental ones and the EIR is used in California |
| Embayment |
A bay or a formation resembling a bay |
| Eutrophication |
The degradation of water quality due to enrichment by nutrients, primarily nitrogen (N) andphosphorus (P), which results in excessive plant (principally algae) growth and decay |
| Hypersaline |
Waters with salinity greater than 40 parts per thousand (ppt) from land-derived salts |
| Intertidal |
Waters with salinity greater than 40 parts per thousand (ppt)from land-derived salts |
| Intertidal |
That area of coastal land that is covered by water at high tide and uncovered at low tide |
| Jetty |
A structure extended into a sea, lake, or river to influence the current or tide or to protect a harbor |
| Littoral |
Of, relating to, or situated on or near a shore especially of the sea |
| Mitigation |
(1) (Environmental, General) Actions designed to lessen or reduce adverse impacts; frequently used in the context of environmental assessment
(2) (NEPA) Action taken to avoid, reduce the severity of, or eliminate an adverse impact |
| MLLW (Mean Lower Low Water) |
A tidal datum. The average of the lower low water height of each tidal day observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch. |
| Pelagic |
Of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea |
| Saline |
Consisting of or containing salt (e.g., a saline solution) |
| Scour protection |
The use of engineered elements (e.g., riprap, bulkhead, bank hardening) designed to reduce scour or erosion, which left unchecked may damage shoreline or existing structures |
| Sensitive species |
Species that are given special state or federal protection |
| Settlement rates |
The rate of downward movement of particles through water. This gravitational settling removes particles naturally and is used also in pollution control devices, for example the settling tanks and ponds in a sewage treatment facility. The settling velocity of a particle is often the same as the terminal settling velocity |
| Special-status species |
Species that are legally protected by state, federal, or resource agencies (e.g., the California Native Plant Society). These species include species that are state or federally listed as threatened or endangered or are proposed for listing |
| Subtidal |
Continuously submerged; an area affected by ocean tides |
| Tidal flushing |
The exchange of water in a lagoon during high tide. This exchange removes potentially stagnant water and provides input of sea water, nutrients, and sediment, which are important factors in the ecological health of a lagoon |
| Tidal influence |
The upstreammost distance where the effects of the tide on water elevation can be measured; the tidal influence typically extends further upstream than the salinity influence |
| Tidal prism |
The volume of water within the lagoon between low water and high water; this volume depends on water input from the ocean (tides) as well as freshwater input from surrounding drainage (runoff) |
| Trophic-level |
Levels of food production and consumption beginning with the primary level, the producers, and continuing up through the consumer levels, the herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores |
