Scour Protection

Protection against erosion of the seabed in front of the toe.

Glossary of Terms

Mud

A fluid-to-plastic mixture of finely divided particles of solid material and water.

Berm

A geomorphological feature usually located at mid-beach and characterized by a sharp break in slope, separating the flatter backshore from the seaward-sloping foreshore.

Breaker Depth

The still-water depth at the point where a wave breaks. Also called breaking depth.

Updrift

The direction opposite that of the predominant movement of littoral materials.

Coastal Current

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.

Estuary

The region where a river meets the marine environment. It is characterized by variable salinity and often by high biological productivity.

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Scour Protection