TERMINOLOGY 127 



Shoreline The line of contact between the land and a body of water. 



(The line delineating the shoreline on Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey nautical charts and surveys approximates the high- 

 water line.) 



Sill A ridge or rise separating partially closed basins from one 



another or from the adjacent sea floor. 



Sill depth The greatest depth over a sill. 



Sink, sinkhole A depression which has subsurface drainage only, through 



natural holes and caverns in limestone or by seepage into a 

 lower-lying water table. 



Slope The inclined surface of a hill, mountain, plateau, plain, or any 



part of the sm-face of the earth; the angle at which such 

 surfaces deviate from the horizontal. 



Slough A minor, muddy marshland or tidal waterway which usually 



connects other tidal areas. 



Slue A slough, or swamp. 



Sluice (H-13) A floodgate. 



Sound A relatively long arm of the sea or ocean forming a channel 



between an island and a mainland or connecting two larger 

 bodies, as a sea and the ocean, or two parts of the same body; 

 usually wider and more extensive than a strait. 



Spit A small point of land or narrow shoal projecting into a body 



of water from the shore. 



Spring (S-76) A place where water issues naturally from the rock or soil upon 



the land or into a body of surface water. 



Spur A subordinate ridge or rise projecting outward from a larger 



feature of elevation. 



Strait A relatively narrow body of water connecting two larger bodies. 



Strand The shore or beach of the ocean or a large lake. 



Strath A broad, elongated depression, with relatively steep walls, 



located on a continental shelf. The longitudinal profile of the 

 floor is gently undulating with the greatest depths often 

 found in the inshore portion. 



Stream iC-lS, 14) Any body of flowing water or other fluid, great or small. 



Stream channel The bed where a natural stream of water runs; the trench or 



depression washed in the surface of the earth by running 

 water; a wash, arroyo or coulee. 



Summit (D-S) The highest point, as the highest peak of a moimtain range, the 



highest elevation reached by a road, etc. 



Swamp {C-17) A track of Stillwater abounding in certain species of trees and 



course grass or boggy protuberances; a track of wet, spongy 

 land, saturated, but not usuaUy covered with water; a boggy 

 marshland and stream; a slough. 



Swash A body of dashing, splashing water. Specifically, a narrow 



sound or channel of water lying within a sandbank, or be- 

 tween a sandbank and a shore; a bar over which a sea washes. 



Tableknoll A seamoimt rising less than 500 fathoms from the sea floor and 



having a comparatively smooth, flat top with minor irregular- 

 ities. 



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