Glossary
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Fauna | Animal life |
| Fetch | Distance over which a wind acts to produce waves - also termed 'fetch length'. |
| Flandrian transgression | Rise in sea levels resulting in marine flooding of coastal land during the last 10,000 years. |
| Flocculation | The process by which suspended colloidal or very fine particles coalesce and agglomerate into well-defined hydrated floccules of sufficient size to settle more rapidly. |
| Flood current (flood) | The movement of a tidal current toward the shore or up a tidal river or estuary. |
| Flora | Plant life |
| Flushing time | The time required to remove or reduce (to a permissible concentration) any dissolved or suspended contaminant in an estuary or harbour. |
| Fluvial | Of rivers. |
| Foreshore | Intertidal area below highest and above lowest tide level. |
| Freshwater | Water that contains no salts and is therefore not saline. |