1. G. Baretta-Bekker. E. K. Duursma B. R. Kuipers (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Marine Sciences With 127 Figures Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York London Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest
Drs. Hanneke (1.) G. Baretta-Bekker NIOZ, Netherlands Institute for Sea Research P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, TEXEL, The Netherlands Prof. Dr. Egbert K. Duursma Res. Les Marguerites, App. 15, 1303, Chemin des Revoires F-06320 La Turbie, France Dr. Bouwe R. Kuipers NIOZ, Netherlands Institute for Sea Research P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, TEXEL, The Netherlands ISBN-13: 978-3-540-54501-9 e-isbn-13: 978-3-642-97361-1 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-97361-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Encyclopedia of marine sciences / 1.G. Baretta-Bekker, E.K. Duursma, B.R. Kuipers (eds.). p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-540-54501-8. - ISBN-13: 978-3-540-54501-9 1. Marine sciences - Encyclopedias. I. Baretta-Bekker, 1. G. (Johanna G.) II. Duursma, E. K. (Egbert K.) Ill. Kuipers, B. R. (Bouwe R.) GC9.E56 1992 551.46-dc20 92-2877 CIP This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1992 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typeseting: Data conversion by Triltsch, Wiirzburg 32/3145-5 4 3 2 1 0 - Printed on acid-free paper
Preface Marine science today is an area of rapid expansion. Scientific activity is increasing, and a growing number of scientists are involved in one or more of its disciplines. For a thorough understanding of the marine environment. for its exploration, exploitation and management. background knowledge of more than one discipline is required. A clear need therefore exists for a concise multidisciplinary oceanographic encyclopedia. The initiative for this book was taken by the Netherland Institute of Sea Research. NIOZ, TexeL a multidisciplinary institute, founded in 1876. The encyclopedia contains some 1850 entries, 210 of which in marine chemistry. 330 in physical oceanography. 350 in marine geology and 940 in marine biology, while the remaining 20 are general terms. Concepts. terminology and methods of the various disciplines are briefly explained and especially in the description of marine processes the book tries to be more than a glossary or dictionary. It tries to provide a succinct overview of the major topics in marine science. Students, teachers, and scientists as well as interested laymen may use it to find an explanation of oceanographic terms outside their own fields. The manuscript was read by a variety of potential users, whose comments were used to improve and clarify the descriptions. We appreciated the good cooperation with Springer Verlag and we trust this concise encyclopedia will be useful for educational and general purposes. Of course an encyclopedia is never complete. We hope we have made a relevant selection of entries, but will be happy to receive comments and additions for possible future editions. The Editors
Acknowledgments We would like to thank all contributors to this encyclopedia. Most of the entries were provided by our colleagues of the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. A few, however, were contributed by outside specialists, to whom we are especially grateful. Thanks are due to our "test" readers: postgraduates at NIOZ, who read and commented on parts of the encyclopedia and Ab Dral, who read and commented on the whole mansucript. We acknowledge their comments and have incorporated most of these in the texts. Joke Hart-Starn typed most of the texts. Willem Hart took care of the illustrations. We used NOTIS-IR, an Information Retrieval program on the institute's Norsk Data Computer for sorting etc. of the entries. Spinger-Verlag was provided with the ASCII text on floppy disk. The Editors
Editorial Board Chief Editors 1. G. Baretta-Bekker (biologist) E. K. Duursma (chemist, former director of the NIOZ, Professor in chemical oceanology) B. R. Kuipers (biologist) Editors G. C. Cadee (biologist). 1. M. Everaarts (toxicologist) 1. H. F. Jansen (geologist). L. R. M. Maas (physicist) L. Otto (physicist. from 1.12.1989 on general editor) 1. H. Vosjan (microbiologist) Authors (NIOZ scientists, except when otherwise indicated) H. M. van Aken. H. 1. W de Baar. M. A. Baars' R. P. M. Bak 1. W Baretta. 1. G. Baretta-Bekker. A.1. van Bennekom. 1. 1. Beukema K. Booy. G. C. Cadee. R. Daan. R. Dekker' 1. Dronkers (Rijkswaterstaat) G. C. Duineveld. E. K. Duursma (University of Groningen). 1. C. Duursma (University of Leiden). F. C. van Duyl. D. Eisma. 1. M. Everaarts M. Fonds' H. G. Fransz. S.1. van der Gaast. L. Gerringa. 1. Hegeman W Helder' T. H. Herkink (Dept. of Geophysics, University of Utrecht) M. Th. 1. Hillebrand' 1. H. F. Jansen' 1. van Iperen. W Kieskamp W C. M. Klein-Breteler. G. W Kraay. B. R. Kuipers' M. S. S. Lavaleye M. F. Leopold' L. R. M. Maas. M. W Manuels. G. Marees G. W N. M. van Moorsel. R. F. Nolting L. Otto' P.1. van de Paverd (Inst. of Earth Sciences, Free University of Amsterdam). M. Phillippart W van Raaphorst. R. Riegman. Th. B. Roep (Inst. of Earth Sciences, Free University of Amsterdam). P. Ruardij. D. H. Spaargaren. C. Swennen S. B. Tijssen. 1. H. Vosjan. H. W van der Veer' 1. van der Veer (University of Groningen). M. 1. W Veldhuis. C. G. N. de Vooys P. A. W 1. de Wilde' 1. Y. Witte' 1. 1. Zijlstra
Key to Different Fonts The entries are printed in bold. Terms printed like -> ocean denote cross-references to entries that will provide additional information. Terms in the body of an entry printed like dating are defined within that body. So the definition of the entry: dating see -> absolute age can be found within the body of absolute age. Italic is used for: - the scientific names of genera and species - variables in mathematical formulas.