Glossary

Waterways of sufficient depth and width to handle a specified traffic load.

A tide occurring near the time of quadrature of the moon with the sun. The neap tide range is usually 10- to 30-percent less than the mean tidal range.

Soils that have little natural resistance to being pulled apart at their point of contact. Typically soils such as sand and gravel.

Pollution arising from an ill-defined and diffuse source, such as runoff from cultivated fields, grazing land, or urban areas.

On the U.S. east coast, a storm (low-pressure system) whose counterclockwise winds approach the shore from the northeast as the storm passes an area. Its steeper waves approaching from the opposite direction to normal lower waves can cause coastal erosion.

The placement of sediment on a beach or dunes by mechanical means.