Coasts

Una de las principales amenazas a las cuales está expuesta la franja costera ecuatoriana son los tsunamis, en atención a los escenarios de desastre que pudieran ocasionar. Para el caso ecuatoriano, las probabilidades de ocurrencia de tsunamis están muy ligadas a la sismicidad, determinada principalmente por un marco tectónico correspondiente a un límite de placas de convergencia (subducción); sin embargo, tsunamis ocurridos en otras localidades distantes de la cuenca del océano Pacífico, han hecho sentir sus efectos en costas ecuatorianas. En vista de ello, es importante evaluar la vulnerabilidad de la geomorfología costera de la provincia Manabí ante la ocurrencia de tsunamis, en términos de la protección que el relieve puede representar para algunos sectores y, de la exposición al barrido de las olas o al fortalecimiento de éstas, que puede significar para otros sectores. La metodología de trabajo ha considerado la sectorización de la costa manabita, para lo cual se han identificado y caracterizado áreas con disponibilidad de sedimentos a partir de la línea de costa (naturaleza de los ambientes depositacionales), ambientes o unidades geomorfológicas (formas de relieve) asociadas a la sedimentación y a la erosión, altitudes del relieve de colinas, lomas y acantilados, morfología de la línea de costa, morfología del fondo marino, dimensiones de la plataforma continental y vegetación. Esta información se levantó a partir de la observación, análisis e interpretación de imágenes satelitales de Google Earth y, de los mapas de relieve de Google Maps. Una primera aproximación, ha permitido definir siete sectores a lo largo del margen costero de Manabí: Cojimíes – Pedernales, Pedernales – Jama, Jama – Canoa, Canoa – San Jacinto, San Jacinto – San Lorenzo, San Lorenzo – Puerto Cayo, Puerto Cayo – Ayampe, para los cuales se discuten sus niveles de vulnerabilidad geomorfológica, siendo los sectores más susceptibles Cojimíes – Pedernales, Canoa – San Jacinto y San Jacinto – San Lorenzo, condicionados principalmente por la presencia de formas de relieve bajas, de topografía llana y escasa pendiente.

I investigated the past, present and possible futures of Australia’s ocean pools, over a hundred public seawater pools sited on rocky surfcoasts, so that waves wash over their walls. My interdisciplinary analysis informed by actor​‐network theory explored their contributions to surf, beach, pool and body cultures and recreational coasts. Ocean pools have since the nineteenth century been far more significant in the surf, beach, pool and body cultures of Australia and South Africa, than in those of Britain and the United States. Most of Australia’s ocean pools lie within state of New South Wales, and my work strengthens the case for recognising Australian and NSW ocean pools as having distinct collective identities and affinities with their South African counterparts. Ocean pools are sites of social and environmental learning that challenge efforts to establish human mastery over wild natures and depictions of coastal environments as mere stages for enacting human activities unconstr...

The draft paper as at 24th April which is updated from the draft made for the oral presentation session (5th April 2017 does not contain any references and text errors needed corrections). The paper is still being worked on with more sections being added with some aspect areas clarified in more detail. Others are being reviewed. Due to the closure of the Parliament in the UK early for the snap elections, the text is still unfinished and will be resumed for the new Parliament session with no end date set yet. The document is best viewed by a download to Microsoft Word as web browsers tend to muddle the layout. Please note that the ice sheet mass balance changes occur mainly in nearby Iceland, Jan Mayen and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rather than Greenland itself. (High viscous, low nucleation events pushing very cool, effusive, almost 'solid' lava incursions vertically up like the Mascarene volcanism of Mauritius are rare anomalies from a misaligned hotspot influencing further afield - and therefore far less likely.)

The purpose of this study was to analyze the December 1993 breach at Grays Harbor, WA, and assess the threat to the Federal Navigation Project had the breach not been filled the following fall. The study was conducted by quantifying evolution of breach morphology; numerically simulating the ocean wave and water level conditions producing the current through such a breach, including investigation of wide-area implications for the current in Grays Harbor; and numerical modeling breach evolution. Available data on the breach evolution were analyzed with a Geographic Information System. The width of the breach and erosion of the adjacent shoreline are quantified from aerial photographs. Shoreline position and bottom configurations in the vicinity of the now-closed breach are the basis of numerical modeling of wave- and tide-driven currents. Estimates are made of the wave and current climate at South Beach, Pt. Chehalis, and in Half Moon Bay under the assumption of a breach at the jetty....

La erosión litoral y su consecuente retroceso de la línea de costa, representan una de las principales amenazas para los asentamientos poblacionales e infraestructuras ubicadas en diversos sectores del margen costero ecuatoriano. En este trabajo, en particular, se analiza el caso de la provincia Santa Elena, para lo cual se caracterizaron varios sectores de acantilados bajo criterios físicos, biológicos y de intervención antrópica, considerando a estas formas de relieve como indicadores y/o marcadores geomorfológicos de retroceso de la línea de costa. La metodología contempló (a) la sectorización del perfil costero con presencia de acantilados, basada en criterios geológicos, geomorfológicos y topográficos; (b) análisis de las magnitudes y regímenes de mareas y oleaje en el área de estudio; (c) cuantificación de la evolución de la línea de costa durante el período 2006-2020; (d) construcción de los perfiles evolutivos de los distintos sectores de línea de costa; (e) construcción de perfiles topográficos transversales de los acantilados prototipos de cada sector; (f) levantamiento de información en campo referida a parámetros geológicos, geomorfológicos, topográficos, hidrodinámicos, biológicos y antrópicos; y (g) tomas de imágenes ortogonales y oblicuas de los sectores de acantilados. Los resultados indican que, en efecto, el retroceso diferencial entre los distintos sectores de acantilados, es el resultado de la conjugación de factores físicos (litología, estructuras de los afloramientos rocosos, pendiente topográfica y morfodinámica) y antrópicos (obras de estabilización o prácticas ingenieriles inadecuadas). Los acantilados con mayor susceptibilidad a la erosión, son los modelados sobre el Grupo Ancón (turbiditas y lutitas), no obstante, la intervención antrópica en este sector, ha contribuido a minimizar los efectos erosivos debido a obras de estabilización; mientras que, los acantilados con una menor susceptibilidad relativa a los procesos erosivos, corresponden a aquellos desarrollados sobre las formaciones Zapotal (conglomerados, areniscas tobáceas y lutitas) y Angostura (coquinas, areniscas y lodolitas).

Understanding the development of shallow seas is essential, as they provide a major environmental and economic resource. An investigation of the Holocene development and the present conditions of the Andaman Sea shelf was carried out based on hydroacoustic surveys and sedimentological sampling. The results show that the relative sea level in the offshore Phang Nga province (Thailand) was at a present-day water depth of approximately 63 m at 13 cal ka BP. This agrees with the sea level development of the Sunda Shelf. Since that time, the Andaman Sea continental shelf developed as a sediment-starved environment, with less than 2 m thickness of sediment deposited during the Holocene on the crystalline basement over large areas between 60 m and 20 m water depth. Between 28 and 17 m water depth, a series of moribund asymmetrical sand ridges exist. These ridges were formed around 9.0 ka cal BP. They strike oblique to the coastline. On the seaward side of the sand ridges, small NW-SE direc...

Understanding the development of shallow seas is essential, as they provide a major environmental and economic resource. An investigation of the Holocene development and the present conditions of the Andaman Sea shelf was carried out based on hydroacoustic surveys and sedimentological sampling. The results show that the relative sea level in the offshore Phang Nga province (Thailand) was at a present-day water depth of approximately 63 m at 13 cal ka BP. This agrees with the sea level development of the Sunda Shelf. Since that time, the Andaman Sea continental shelf developed as a sediment-starved environment, with less than 2 m thickness of sediment deposited during the Holocene on the crystalline basement over large areas between 60 m and 20 m water depth. Between 28 and 17 m water depth, a series of moribund asymmetrical sand ridges exist. These ridges were formed around 9.0 ka cal BP. They strike oblique to the coastline. On the seaward side of the sand ridges, small NW-SE direc...

El cambio climático es un fenómeno a escala mundial, representa una de las principales preocupaciones de las sociedades y gobiernos en el planeta. Una de las afectaciones con mayor impacto, que provocará sobre la infraestructura física de las ciudades costeras y los puertos, y a la larga sobre el nivel de vida de países enteros, es la elevación del nivel del mar. Este estudio realizó una revisión de las causas de la elevación del nivel del mar en el planeta, y la razón por la que este cambio no es general, describiendo los impactos de la infiltración del agua marina hacia niveles más elevados en las costas mexicanas. Para ello, consideramos algunos esfuerzos que la academia y gobierno federal están llevando a cabo para poder pronosticar mejor los impactos potenciales, y para buscar formas de atenuarlos. Las proyecciones realizadas sobre el incremento del nivel medio del mar para varias ciudades costeras del país presentan tendencias que varían regionalmente, pero generalmente ascendentes. Los estudios identifican casi todo el litoral costero del Golfo de México con afectaciones en las zonas costeras de los estados de Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo; así como Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Nayarit y Chiapas en la costa del Pacífico, hacia finales del presente siglo. El problema del aumento del nivel del mar aún no es visible para el pleno de la población del país, quienes viven en zonas de gran altitud. Es fundamental llevar a cabo evaluaciones sobre la susceptibilidad de las comunidades del país que generalmente tienen tamaños poblacionales pequeños, y que por su relativo aislamiento y bajo nivel económico, están expuestos a un elevado riesgo de ver afectado su patrimonio y su modo de vida en las próximas décadas.

Since coastal areas have been regarded as attractive places for human beings throughout the history, nearly half of the world’s population lives on coastal areas and this ratio continue to rise with every passing day. Developments, such as tourism and housing, in addition to sectors like industry, agriculture, and logistics, also play an important role in the population growth at coastal areas. There are 28 provinces in Turkey with coastal lines at sea. The population of these provinces has been increasing every year and has reached 41847821 people in 2013. This figure accounts for 54,5 % of country’s population that is 76667864 people. A total of 22076466 people live in the coastal provinces (Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Bursa, Yalova, Kocaeli, Istanbul and Tekirdağ) of the Sea of Marmara which population rapidly increases in the coastal settlements. The total population of Canakkale and Balıkesir provinces, located on the southwest shores of the Marmara Sea, has increased by 33 % (420344 people) in the period of 33 years from 1980 to 2013. An increase of 34 % (106681 people) has been seen in the coastal districts of these provinces. The population of the residential areas, located approximately at 2 km long land from the coastal lines of these two provinces, increased at the rate of 97 % (122373 people). Pressures of urbanization, experienced in the coastal districts of Balıkesir and Çanakkale provinces will also continue to increase and the scenic landscape of the coasts will rapidly be damaged as long as the population continues to increase at high-speed. Therefore, a sustainable coastal policy should be prepared and be put in application in order to preserve these natural resources which are damaged due to rapid population growth and housing associated with industrialization and which are non-renewable and to ensure equal utilization of these by the public.
Key Words: Sea of Marmara, Coastal areas, Costal Population, Balıkesir, Çanakkkale.

The tidal variability of the Minho and Douro lower estuaries (NW Portugal) water column structure was assessed at the semi-diurnal and fortnightly time scales under two contrasting seasonal river flow scenarios during the summer of 2005 and winter of 2006. Sediment fluxes inferred from calibrated ADCP acoustic backscatter revealed that, during spring tides and low runoff conditions, both estuaries act as sinks instead of sources of sediments into the inner shelf. Sediment export occurred during neaps, in both estuaries, when the river flow values were high enough to counteract the effect of the entering flood. No evidence of coarse sediment export into the inner shelf that would eventually nourish the littoral system could be inferred from these datasets.

Coastal dunes are valuable and vulnerable habitats that require scientific exploration and understanding of their natural processes; therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the current vegetation characteristics of dune habitats along the Bulgarian Coast in terms of species richness and cover of typical psammophytes and different non-psammophytic plant groups, and to analyze how they respond to certain environmental drivers. Data were collected from 12 dune systems. The research was focused on embryonic, white and grey dunes. The field work was conducted throughout July and August 2017. The vegetation was sampled at 154 phytosociological plots (5 m × 5 m). To understand how the vegetation responds to different drivers, we tested the correlation of defined species group richness and cover in relation to (1) the soil pH and EC values, (2) the distance from inland to the sea and (3) the range of different categories of land cover in the surrounding area. In order to track t...

This review presents recent concepts, understanding and experience of the restoration, recovery and human-mediated modification of estuarine,
coastal and marine ecosystems. It shows that these can be divided into four categories: natural recovery from a natural or anthropogenic
change (whether adverse or otherwise); anthropogenic interventions in response to a degraded or anthropogenically changed environment; anthropogenic
responses to a single stressor; and habitat enhancement or creation. A conceptual framework for restoration and recovery of marine
marginal and semi-enclosed areas is presented after exploring and refining the plethora of terms used in restoration science and management.
Examples of management action are given including managed realignment and the restoration of docks, biogenic reefs, saltmarsh, seagrass,
beaches and upper estuarine water quality. We emphasise that although recovery techniques are worthwhile if they can be carried out, they rarely
(if ever) fully replace lost habitat. Moreover, while they may have some success in marginal or semi-enclosed areas such as coastal bays, estuaries
and fringing habitats, they are less relevant to open coastal and marine habitats. Therefore the best option available in the latter can only
be to remove the stressor, as the cause of any change, to prevent other stressors from operating and to allow the conditions suitable for natural
recovery. This review emphasises that whereas some ecological concepts related to restoration are well understood, for example, the nature of
ecosystem structure and functioning, others such as carrying capacity, resilience and ecosystem goods and services are still poorly quantified for
the marine and estuarine environments. The linking between these ecological concepts and the management framework is also relatively recent
but is required to give a holistic approach to understanding, managing and manipulating these environments.

Exploratory statistical partitioning methods (K-means Clustering analysis) were applied to ADCP monitoring datasets collected inside the Douro and Minho estuaries. This analysis is aimed to discriminate ADCP acoustic responses according to the variations of the suspended particles within the ensonified medium. Based on the interpretation of the results, this work establishes general sediment transport patterns at both estuaries’ exits under continuously varying river flows and tidal amplitudes recorded during a summer dry seasonal scenario (September 2005) and winter high river discharge (January/February 2007) conditions. Results confirm the already known present scarcity of (sandy) sediment export from the Douro and Minho estuaries into the inner shelf and the consequent sediment depletion of the adjacent littoral, with no effective contribution of the Douro and some evidence of sand export observed at the Minho outlet during the winter of 2007.

A review of the experience gained over a decade of studying the mechanics of coastal bluff erosion and stability along the Great Lakes shorelines and the approaches to dealing with this problem are presented. Shore recession affects planning, design, and maintenance of transportation facilities in coastal areas in a significant way. The erosional processes resulting in significant mass wasting include wave erosion, solifluction, rain impact and rill-sheet erosion, wind erosion, sapping, and ice erosion. Another important process is mass sliding and slumping of bluff materials in response to and in conjunction with the erosional processes. The methods of approach to this problem are grouped as structural (stabilization) and nonstructural (planning and management) solutions. These approaches and the required information to implement either of them are discussed. Because of the length of the slopes and the variable nature of geology and soil properties, a probabilistic approach to stability analysis has been adopted for planning and managing the stabilization efforts. Two specific cases, one in an undeveloped segment and another in an urban segment of the shoreline, are presented to demonstrate the stabilization approach.

This report provides the preliminary findings of the pilot study on the payment for ecological and environmental services (PES) in the Lashihai Nature Reserve in the Yunnan province of China. The Lashihai Nature Reserve was established in 1998 with the main purpose of protecting the Lashihai wetland, an area of special interest for migratory birds, listed under the Ramsar convention. Major protection measures currently in force include a ban on and inspection of fishing, poaching and hunting, but a potential threat for the lake ecosystem remains, due to increased increasing unplanned tourism and agricultural activities. This report is organized as follows: first chapter, based on a thorough review of the literature, chapter two describes existing PES schemes, and provides an assessment of their effectiveness in maintaining key ecological and environmental services (EES). The main experiences with PES schemes in China are then described in chapter three. Chapter four describes in det...

The concentrations and composition of hydrocarbons in sections from a 210 Pb dated core from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts are reported. Terrigenous n-alkane concentrations remain constant throughout the 62 cm and 195 years sampled. Gas Chromatographic analysis on SCOT ...

This is a speech made by William H. Calvin for the Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Beijing. The author speaks about the climate crisis and says that we have only one future and one global climate, and now it looks as if we only have one chance to rescue our civilization from collapse and prevent a mass extinction of species during the 21st century. In this lecture, the author concentrates on global warming as well as how changes in weather patterns will effect us in future such as flood, and drought.