Glossary

The  wire netted blocks of medium-sized pieces of hard rock. Expensive and can be ugly

Computer-assisted systems that can input, store, retrieve, analyze and display geographically referenced information and enhance the analysis and display of interpreted geographic data.

 Database of information which is geographically referenced, usually with an associated visualization system.

The science that applies the principles of physiography and geology to address the form and configuration of the land and submarine features of the earth's surface and the changes that take place in the evolution of landform.

Synthetic or natural fabrics used in engineering to separate layers of granular material.

A long fabric cylinder filled with sediment used as a wall to retain sediment behind

The form and quality of government systems – structure, power, effectiveness, efficiency, rights and representation.

A strip of vegetation, usually along a transition zone boundary, which separates one type of resource area from another. It is a linked system of natural areas along the shoreline of a watercourse or body of water, often including public easements, open space land, and public access walkways. A greenbelt typically provides a natural, protective buffer area between the upland and aquatic area, conserves valuable natural resources, and may provide opportunities for passive recreational use.

Heating of the Earth from the increase in the gases such as CO2, methane, CFCs, etc., that make up the atmospheric envelope that surrounds the globe; term coined by the scientist Svante Arrhenius in the late 1800s.

Well-vegetated fixed dune with mosses, lichens, grasses and herbs.

Elongate structure of large rock, concrete, or woodpiles and planks, built perpendicular to the shoreline in order to intercept long-shore drift of sand and reduce localized erosion. It is also a shore protection structure usually built perpendicular to the shoreline and intended to trap littoral drift or reduce erosion of the shore.

Ground level direct observations made to verify interpretations from remotely sensed data.

Groundwater drainage, or bluff dewatering is a common practice used to rapidly drain ground and surface waters away from a bluff in order to eliminate or reduce bluff failures initiated by groundwater seepage.

A man-made barrier built across a beach (from the back of the beach down into the sea). Groynes are usually made of wood or concrete and are built to trap sand and hold it on the beach.

The beach compartment between two groynes.

 A series of groynes acting together to protect a section of beach. Also called a groyne system.