STREAM 



stereographic projection — A perspective, con- 

 formal, azimuthal map projection in which 

 points on the surface of a spliere are conceived 

 as projected by radial lines from any point on 

 the surface to a plane tangent to the antipode of 

 the point of the projection. Circles project as 

 circles except for great circles through the point 

 of tangency which project as straight lines. 

 (68) 



steric anomaly — See specific volume anomaly. 



steric level — The mean dynamic depth (or 

 height) for the month minus the annual mean 

 dynamic depth to the same isobaric reference 

 level. 



still water level — The level that the sea surface 

 would assume in the absence of wind waves; 

 not to be confused with mean sea level or half- 

 tide level. (5) {See figures for wave and 

 surf zone.) 



stingray — See ray, venomous marine animals. 



stipe — The basal, stemlike part of the thallus of an 

 alga beneath an erect blade. (13) 



Stokes law — An expression of the relation be- 

 tween the size of spherical particles and their 

 settling velocity in a fluid. Tlie law is used in 

 detennining the proportion and size distribu- 

 tion of silt and clay in sediment samples. 



stolonate bryozoan — See erect bryozoan. 



stone — A general term for rock fragments and 

 rock ranging from pebbles and gravels to boul- 

 ders or large rock masses. 



stone reef — Offshore bars converted into solid 

 rock reefs by the calcium carbonate cementation 

 of sand grams in the upper 10 to 15 feet of the 

 reef. (2) 



stones — Detached particles of rock usually smaller 

 than 256 millimeters in diameter. 



stopped — The condition of a ship without power ; 

 contrasted with hove-to. 



stop trim — The condition of trim when net buoy- 

 ancy is zero whereby a stationary submarine can 

 maintain its depth. 



storis — The Scandinavian name for the pack of 

 heavy ice floes which drifts from the Arctic 

 Ocean along the east coast of Greenland, around 

 Kap Farvel, and northward along the west 

 coast of Greenland where it melts. 



storm ice foot — An ice foot produced by the 

 breaking of a heavy sea or the freezing of wind 

 driven spray. (68) 



storm surge — (or stor?n fide, storm ivave, tidal 

 wave). A rise above normal water level on the 

 open coast due only to the action of wind stress 

 on the water surface. Storm surge resulting 

 from a hurricane or other intense storm also 

 includes the rise in level due to atmospheric pres- 

 sure reduction as well as that due to wind stress. 

 A storm surge is more severe when it occurs in 

 conjunction with a high tide. 



storm tide — 1. <S'ee storm surge. 



2. Tlie height of a storm surge (or hurricane 

 wave) above the astronomically predicted level 

 of the sea. 



storm track — The path followed by a center of 



low atmospheric pressure. (5) 

 storm wave — 1. A wind-generated sea surface 



wave of great height. 



2. See storm surge. 



3. See hurricane wave. 



(5} 



strain crack — (also called tension crack). A 

 crack in sea ice caused by stretching of the ice 

 beyond its elastic limit, usually due to motion of 

 underlying water. (68) 



strain gauge — See dynamometer. 



strait — A narrow sea channel which separates 

 two landmasses. 



strand — The portion of the seashore between 

 high and low water line. (2) 



stranded ice — See shore ice. 



stranded ice foot — Aii ice foot formed by the 

 stranding of ice floes or small icebergs along a 

 shore. It may be built up by freezing spray or 

 breaking seas. (68) 



stranded pressure ridge— A large pressure 

 ridge formed when ice is forced against the 

 shore. 



strandflat — A low, broad coastal flat, slightly 

 submerged, supporting thousands of low small 

 islands, reefs, and rocks. It may extend for 

 hundreds of miles along a coast. 



strath — A broad elongated depression with rela- 

 tively steep walls located on a continental shelf. 

 The longitudinal profile of the floor is gently 

 undulating, with the greatest depths often being 

 found in the inshore portion. (62) 



straticulate — Having numerous thin layers, either 

 of sedimentary deposition from suspension as by 

 wave motion, or of deposition from solution. 

 (48) 



stratification — The state of a fluid that consists of 

 two or more horizontal layers arranged accord- 

 ing to their density, the lightest layer being on 

 top and the heaviest at the bottom. 



stratigraphy — The branch of geology which 

 treats of the formation, composition, sequence, 

 and correlation of layered or bedded rocks. 

 (2) • • 



stratosphere — From an imperfect analogy with 

 the atmosphere, a term applied by some oceanog- 

 raphers to the nearly uniform masses of cold 

 deep and bottom water of middle and low lati- 

 tudes. This layer is separated from the tropo- 

 sphere by the thermocline. (54) 



stratum — A single sedimentary bed or layer of 

 generally homogenous rock, independent of 

 thickness. See bed. 



stream — Not to be confused with current. See 

 strip. 



157 



