caballing — The mixing of two water masses of 



identical in situ densities but different in situ 

 temperatures and salinities, such that the result- 

 ing mixture is denser than its components. 

 cable — 1. A chain of metal links or a strong hemp 

 or wire rope used to anchor ships or buoys ; an 

 underwater or overhead ropelike wire carrying 

 an electric current. 



2. A unit of distance equal to 720 feet in the 

 U.S. Navy. 



3. A unit of distance equal to 608 feet in the 

 British Navy or exactly one-tenth of a British 

 Nautical Mile. 



(68) 



cable-laid rope — (also known as water-laid rope). 

 Three or four plain-laid, three-stranded ropes 

 twisted together in the opposite direction to the 

 twists in each rope. It is used for ropes much 

 exposed to water. 



cadder — A short form of bally cadder, meaning an 

 icefoot. (59) 



caisson disease — See decompression sickness. 



cake — iSee ice cake. 



cake ice — An ice pack composed of fragments of 

 flat sea ice. (59) 



cake urchin — See sea urchin. 



calcarenite — A limestone or dolomite rock com- 

 posed of 50 percent or more coral sand or shell 

 sand whose particle size ranges from i/ig to 2 

 millimeters. Sometimes designates calcareous 

 sand. 



calcareous — Consisting of or containing calcium 

 or calcium carbonate ; impregnated with calcium 

 carbonate. (13) 



calcareous algae — Marine plants which form a 

 hard external covering of calcium compounds. 

 Calcareous algae are found in all oceans and 

 frequently form reefs. 



calcareous grits — Sandy beds, intermixed with 

 calcareous matter. (48) 



calcareous sponge — A sponge in which the in- 

 ternal skeletal elements (spicules) are com- 

 posed of calcium carbonate. 



calcilutite — A very fine-grained limestone or cal- 

 cai'eous sediment, often containing some clay 

 matter. The mean grain diameter is less than 

 0.0625 millimeter. 



calcirudite — A limestone conglomerate or sedi- 

 ment composed of fragments of coral, shell, or 

 limestone, cemented by or mixed with calcite 

 and calcareous sand or mud. (2) 



calcisiltite — Limestone or limy sediment com- 

 posed of silt-sized calcareous fragments. 



calcite — Calcium carbonate, CaCOs, crystallized 

 in hexagonal- rhombohedral form; one of the 

 principal constituents of limestone. 



calclithite — Limestone containing 50 percent or 

 more of fragments of older limestone eroded 

 from the land. (2) 



calc-sapropel — Sediments containing principally 

 sapropel but also the remains of calcareous 

 algae. (2) 



caldera — A large basin-shaped volcanic depres- 

 sion, the diameter of which is many times 

 greater than that of the included volcanic vent 

 or vents. Calderas are classified into three ma- 

 jor types: explosion, collapse, and erosion. 

 Numerous islands are drowned remnants of 

 calderas. (2) (See figure for compound 

 volcano.) 



caldron — This term is not recommended by 

 ACUF. See basin. 



calf — A piece of floating ice which has broken 

 away from a larger piece of sea ice or land ice. 

 Specifically, a piece of ice which rises to the sur- 

 face after breaking away from the submerged 

 fiortion of its parent formation. (59) 

 ibration — Comparison between two instru- 

 ments or devices, one of which is a standard of 

 known accuracy, to detect and to correlate or 

 adjust any variation in the accuracy of the in- 

 strument being compared. (22) 



calibration correction — The value to be added to 

 or subtracted from the reading of an instrument 

 to obtain the correct reading. (68) 



calibration error — (also called scale error). 

 That error in an instrument due to imperfection 

 of calibration or maladjustment of its parts. 

 (68) 



calibration table — A list of calibration correc- 

 tions or calibrated values. A card having such 

 a table on it is called a calibration card. (68) 



California Current — The ocean current that flows 

 southward along the west coast of the United 

 States to northern Baja California. It is 

 formed by parts of the North Pacific Current 

 and the Subarctic Current and is a wide cur- 

 rent that moves sluggishly toward the south- 

 east. Off Central America, the California Cur- 

 rent turns toward the west and becomes the 

 North Equatorial Current. 



Callao Painter — (or El Pintor). Mariners' ref- 

 erence to the catastrophic destruction of marine 

 life which causes the blackening of paint on 



28 



