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Management Measures for Marinas and Recreational Boating - IV. Glossary
IV. Glossary
Bathymetric: Pertaining to the depth of a waterbody.
Bed load transport: Sediment transport along the bottom of a waterbody due to currents.
Benthic: Associated with the sea bottom.
Biocriteria: Biological measures of the health of an environment, such as the incidence of cancer in benthic fish species.
BOD: Biochemical oxygen demand; the quantity of dissolved oxygen used by microorganisms in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter and oxidizable inorganic matter by aerobic biological action.
Circulation cell: See gyre.
Conservative pollutant: A pollutant that remains chemically unchanged in the water.
Critical habitat: A habitat determined to be important to the survival of a threatened or endangered species, to general environmental quality, or for other reasons as designated by the State or Federal government.
DO: Dissolved oxygen; the concentration of free molecular oxygen in the water column.
Drogue-release study: A study of currents and circulation patterns using objects, or drogues, placed in the water at the surface or at specified depths.
Dye-release study: A study of dispersion using nontoxic dyes.
Exchange boundary: The boundary between one waterbody, e.g., a marina, and its parent waterbody; usually the marina entrance(s).
Fecal coliform: Bacteria present in mammalian feces, used as an indicator of the presence of human feces, bacteria, viruses, and pathogens in the water column.
Fixed breakwater: A breakwater constructed of solid, stationary materials.
Floating breakwater: A breakwater constructed to possess a limited range of movement.
Flushing time: Time required for a waterbody, e.g., a marina, to exchange its water with water from the parent waterbody.
Gyre: A mass of water circulating as a unit and separated from other circulating water masses by a boundary of relatively stationary water.
Hydrographic: Pertaining to ground or surface water.
Ichthyofauna: Fish.
Macrophytes: Plants visible to the naked eye.
Mathematical modeling: Predicting the performance of a design based on mathematical equations.
Micron: Micrometer; one-one millionth (0.000001) of a meter.
NCDEM DO model: A mathematical model for calculating dissolved oxygen concentrations developed by the North Carolina Division of Environmental Management (NCDEM).
No-discharge zone: An area where the discharge of polluting materials is not permitted.
NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. A permitting system for point source polluters regulated under section 402 of the Clean Water Act.
Numerical modeling: See mathematical modeling.
Nutrient transformers: Biological organisms, usually plants, that remove nutrients from water and incorporate them into tissue matter.
Organics: Carbon-containing substances such as oil, gasoline, and plant matter.
PAH: Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon; multiringed carbon molecules resulting from the burning of fossil fuels, wood, etc.
Physical modeling: Using a small-scale physical structure to simulate and predict the performance of a full-scale structural design.
Rapid bioassessment: An assessment of the environmental degradation of a waterbody based on a comparison between a typical species assemblage in a pristine waterbody and that found in the waterbody of interest.
Removal efficiency: The capacity of a pollution control device to remove pollutants from wastewater or runoff.
Residence time: The length of time water remains in a waterbody. Generally the same as flushing time.
Riparian: For the purposes of this report, riparian refers to areas adjoining coastal waterbodies, including rivers, streams, bays, estuaries, coves, etc.
Sensitivity analysis: Modifying a numerical model's parameters to investigate the relationship between alternative [marina] designs and water quality.
Shoaling: Deposition of sediment causing a waterbody or location within a waterbody to become more shallow.
Significant: A quantity, amount, or degree of importance determined by a State or local government.
SOD: Sediment oxygen demand; biochemical oxygen demand of microorganisms living in sediments.
Suspended solids: Solid materials that remain suspended in the water column.
Tidal prism: The difference in the volume of water in a waterbody between low and high tides.
Tidal range: The difference in height between mean low tide and mean high tide.
Velocity shear: Friction created by two masses of water moving in different directions or at different speeds in the same direction.
WASP4 model: A generalized modeling system for contaminant fate and transport in surface waters; can be applied to BOD, DO, nutrients, bacteria, and toxic chemicals.
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