CARIBBEAN CURRENT 



ships within tlie liarbor of Callao, Peru. Hy- 

 drogen sulfide released during tlie decomposi- 

 tion of the organisms is responsible for the phe- 

 nomenon. The immediate cause of this phe- 

 nomenon is the increase in water temperature 

 when warmer oceanic currents turn inshore; or- 

 ganisms normally accustomed to colder water 

 temperatures die because of this abrupt tempera- 

 ture change. 



calm — 1. The state or condition of the water sur- 

 face when there are no wind waves or swell. 

 (73) 



2. The apparent absence of motion of the sur- 

 face water; the water is generally considered 

 calm if the c\u-rent speed is less than 0.1 knot. 

 See slack water. 



calm belt — A belt of latitude in which the winds 

 are generally light and variable. Tlie principal 

 calm belts are the horse latitudes (the calms of 

 Cancer and Capricorn) and the doldrums. 



calorie — (abbreviated cal). A unit of heat orig- 

 inally defined as the amount of heat required 

 to raise the temperature of one gram of water 

 through one degree centigrade (the gram-cal- 

 orie or small calorie), but this proved to be in- 

 sufficiently precise. The 15-degree gram-cal- 

 orie (calls) is the amount of heat required to 

 raise the temperature of one gram of water from 

 14.5°C to 15.5°C, and is equal to 4.1855 Joules. 

 The kilogram-calorie or large calorie (Kcal, kg- 

 cal, or Cal) is 1,000 times as large as a calorie. 

 The Internation Table calorie (ITcal) equals 

 1.00032 cali5. (5) 



calve — To break off or discharge pieces of ice 

 from a larger ice mass, as from a tidal glacier. 

 (59) _ 



calved ice — (also called calf). A piece of ice 

 floating in a body of water after calving from 

 a mass of land ice or an iceberg. 



The term calf sometimes is used specifically 

 for a piece that has broken loose from a sub- 

 merged portion of an iceberg and risen to the 

 sea surface. (5) 



calving — The breaking off of a mass of ice from 

 its parent glacier, iceberg, or ice shelf. (5) 



camber — A small basin, usually with a narrow 

 entrance, generally situated inside a harbor. 

 (30) 



canal — 1. An artificial watercourse cut through 

 land. 



2. A long narrow arm of the sea extending in- 

 land, between islands, or between islands and 

 the mainland. 

 (2) 



Canaries Current — See Canary Current. 



Canary Current — The prevailing southward flow 

 along the northwest coast of Africa ; it helps to 

 form the North Equatorial Current. 



candled ice — See candle ice. 



candle ice — (or candled ice, penhnife ice, needle 

 ice, frost columns of ice). A form of rotten 



ice; disintegrating sea ice (or lake ice) consist- 

 ing of ice prisms or cylinders oriented perpendic- 

 ular to the original ice surface; these "ice fin- 

 gers" may be equal in length to the thickness of 

 the original ice before its disintegration. (5) 



candle-power — See luminous intensity. 



canyon — -A relatively narrow, deep depression 

 with steep slopes, the bottom of which grades 

 continuously downward. (62) 



canyon delta — A variation and more specific 

 definition of a type of fan which is described as 

 a sloping cone-shaped accumulation of sedi- 

 ments at the mouth of a canyon having a single 

 deep seachannel and high natural levees on its 

 upper portion and multiple shallow distributary 

 seachannels on its lower portion; not recom- 

 mended by ACUF. See fan. 



cape — A body of land jutting from a continent or 

 large island which prominently marks a change 

 in or interrupts the coastal trend. 



Cape Horn Current — That part of the West 

 "Wind Drift flowing eastward in the immediate 

 vicinity of Cape Horn, and then curving north- 

 eastward to continue as the Falkland Current. 

 (68) 



capillary forces — See surface tension. 



capillary ripple — Same as capillary wave. 



capillary wave — (also called ripple, capillary rip- 

 pis). A wave whose velocity of propagation is 

 controlled primarily by the surface tension of 

 the liquid in which the wave is travelling. 

 Water waves of length less than one inch are 

 considered to be capillary waves. ( 61 ) 



carapace — A chitinous or bony shield covering 

 the whole or part of the back of certain animals, 

 such as many crustaceans and the turtles. ( 26 ) 



carbon dioxide — A heavy, colorless gas of chemi- 

 cal formula CO2. It is the fourth most abund- 

 ant constituent of dry air, now present to the 

 extent of 0.033 percent by volume. 



Over 99 percent of the terrestrial CO 2 is found 

 in the oceans, but its solubility is strongly tem- 

 perature-dependent, so changes in sea surface 

 temperatures can lead to marked local changes 

 in (76^2 content. (5) 



Carbon^* method — A method of radioactive dat- 

 ing which utilizes the ratio of radiocarbon 

 (Carbon") to Carbon^- to determine the age of 

 samples containing formerly living matter. 



Carbon" technique — A method of measuring 

 primary production by using the radioactive 

 isotope C" as a tracer. The tracer, in the form 

 0^*0.2, is assimilated by marine phytoplankton 

 under appropriate test conditions. The amount 

 of this tracer that has been incorporated into the 

 organic matter of the phytoplankton is measured 

 to determine the gross primary production. 



Caribbean Current — A current flowing westward 

 through the Caribbean Sea. It is formed prin- 

 cipally by the major part of the North Equa- 

 torial Current settmg through the Lesser 



29 



