Marine Resources Assessment for the Marianas Operating ... - SPREP

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Sessile—used to describe an animal that is attached to something rather than free moving
Sexual maturity—the state in which an animal is physiologically capable of reproducing
Sexually dimorphic—differences in the appearance of the sexes of a species; size differences are a
primary difference where males are generally larger than females; other differences may be in body
shape and color
Shallow water—water that is between the shore and the continental shelf break or shallower than 200 m
Shapefile—vector data storage format used to store the location, shape, and attributes of geographic
features; a shapefile must be one and only one of three possible feature classes: lines, points, and
polygons
Shelf break (continental)—region where the slope of the seabed rapidly changes from gently sloping to
steeply sloping and the continental shelf gives way to the continental slope; the world-wide average water
depth at which the shelf break is found is 155 m, but on average, the shelf break usually occurs between
100 to 200 m water depth
Shelf break region—the geographic area surrounding the continental shelf break and including both the
outer continental shelf and upper continental slope
Shield volcano—A broad, fairly flat mountain, formed chiefly by very fluid lava, having the shape of a
shield when viewed from side
Shoals—a submerged ridge, bank, or bar consisting of, or covered by, unconsolidated sediments (mud,
sand, gravel) which is at or near enough to the water surface to constitute a danger to navigation
Silicate compensation depth—depth at which almost all silica dissolves, approximately 8,000 m
Siliceous—composed of silica
Sirenia—the order of marine mammals that consists of manatees and the dugong
Site fidelity—the tendency to return to the same site repeatedly
Soft corals—class of corals (Anthozoa) characterized by having retractable polyps with eight, branching
tentacles (i.e., sea anemones); usually attached to rocks
Source level⎯the acoustic pressure that would be measured at a standard distance (usually 1 m) from a
point source radiating the same amount of sound as the actual source
Spatial analysis—study of and relationship between the locations and shapes of geographic features
and the process of analyzing, modeling, and interpreting those results; there are four main types or
categories of spatial analysis: topological overlay and contiguity analysis; surface analysis; linear
analysis; and raster analysis
Spawn—the release of eggs and sperm during mating
Species—a population or series of populations of organisms that can interbreed freely with each other
but not with members of the other species
Species diversity—the number of different species in a given area
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