FOUL GROUND 



fog bank — Generally, a fairly well-defined mass 

 of fog observed in the distance, most commonly 

 at sea. This is not applied to "patches" of 

 shallow fog. (5) 



following sea — See beam sea. 



following wind — Generally, same as tailwind; 

 specifically, a wind blowing in the direction of 

 ocean-wave advance; the opposite of opposing 

 wind. 



f ondo — The sea floor exclusive of the continental 

 shelf and slope. The sedimentary deposit is 

 the fondoform, and the rock unit of the fondo- 

 form is the fondothem. (2) 



fondoform — See fondo. 



fondothem — See fondo. 



food chain — The sequence of organisms in which 

 each is food for a higher member of the 

 sequence. (26) 



food cycle — The production, consumption, and 

 decomposition of food in the sea, and the en- 

 ergy relationships involved in this cycle. De- 

 composition products are transformed by 

 bacteria into inorganic nutrients suitable for 

 use by the producers (marine plants) which, 

 directly or indirectly, are the food source for all 

 animals in the sea. 



food web — A group of interrelated food chains. 



foot-pound — A unit of energy equal to 1.356 

 Joules. (5) 



foram — See f oraminiferan. 



foraminifer — See foraminif eran. 



foraminif era — See foraminif eran. 



foraminiferal ooze — A pelagic sediment consist- 

 ing of more than 30 percent calcium carbonate 

 in the form of foraminiferal tests. See also 

 ooze. 



foraminif eran — (or foraminif era, foraminifer, 

 foram). One of an order (Foraminifera) of 

 benthic and plank±onic protozoa possessing var- 

 iously formed shells of calcium carbonate, silica, 

 chitin, or an agglomerate of materials. Shells 

 of an abundant planktonic genus, GloMgerina, 

 form an important part of a marine sediment 

 called globigerina ooze. 



forced wave — A wave generated and maintained 

 by a continuous force, in contrast a free wave 

 that continues to exist after the generating force 

 has ceased to act. (68) 



foredeep — A long, narrow, crustal depression, or 

 furrow, bordering the convex or ocean side of a 

 folded orogenic belt or island arc. See trench. 



(2) 

 foreland — A promontory or cape ; a point of land 

 extending into the water from the shoreline. 



(2) 

 Fore! scale — 1. A scale of yellows, greens, and 

 blues for recording the color of sea water, as seen 

 against the white background of a Secchi disk. 



(5) 



2. As used in the U.S. Naval Oceanographic 

 Office: 



Description Code 



Deep blue 00 



Blue 10 



Greenish blue 20 



Bluish green 30 



Green 40 



Light green 50 



Yellowish green 60 



Yellow green 70 



Green yellow 80 



Greenish yellow 90 



Yellow 99 



fore reef — The steeply dipping talus slope com- 

 monly found on the seaward side of an organic 

 reef. (2) 



forerunner — Low, long-period, ocean swell which 

 commonly precedes the main swell from a dis- 

 tant storm, especially a tropical cyclone. (5) 



f oreset beds — The series of inclined layers of sedi- 

 ment deposited on the relatively steep frontal 

 slope of a delta. (2) {See figure for bottom- 

 set beds.) 



foreshore — The zone that lies between the or- 

 dinary high and low water marks and is daily 

 traversed by the oscillating water line as the 

 tides rise and fall. (2) (See figure for shore 

 profile.) 



formation — A lithologically distinctive product of 

 essentially continuous sedimentation selected 

 from a local succession of strata as a convenient 

 unit for mapping, description, and reference. 



(2) 



form of floating ice — A categorical form used by 

 WMO to denote the size type of the pack ice 

 fragments; that is, ice crystal, small ice floes, 

 vast ice floes, etc. 



forward scatterance — The ratio of the radiant 

 flux scattered through angles to 90 degrees 

 from a beam, to the incident flux. (8) 



forward scattering coefficient — The coefficient 

 which relates to forward scatterance. Unit of 

 measurement is m"^. (8) 



fossil — The remains or traces of animals or plants 

 which have been preserved by natural causes in 

 the earth's crust, exclusive of organisms which 

 have been buried since the beginning of historic 

 time. (2) 



foul — 1. To attach to or come to lie on the surface 

 of submerged manmade or introduced objects, 

 usually in large numbers or amounts, as barna- 

 cles on the hull of a ship or silt on a stationary 

 object. 



2. To entangle or become entangled, as a pro- 

 peller, cables, nets, or seaweed. 



foul area — See rocky area. 



foul bottom — A hard, uneven, rocky, or obstructed 

 bottom having poor holding qualities for an- 

 chors, or one having rocks or wreckage that 

 would endanger an anchored ship. ( 68 ) 



fouler — See fouling organism. 



foul ground — An area where the holding qualities 

 for an anchor are poor, or where danger of strik- 



65 



