The global decline in estuarine and coastal ecosystems (ECEs) is affecting a number of critical benefits, or ecosystem services. We review the main ecological services across a variety of ECEs, including marshes, mangroves, nearshore coral reefs, seagrass beds, and sand beaches and dunes. Where possible, we indicate estimates of the key economic values arising from these services, and discuss how the natural variability of ECEs impacts their benefits, the synergistic relationships of ECEs across seascapes, and management implications. Although reliable valuation estimates are beginning to emerge for the key services of some ECEs, such as coral reefs, salt marshes, and mangroves, many of the important benefits of seagrass beds and sand dunes and beaches have not been assessed properly. Even for coral reefs, marshes, and mangroves, important ecological services have yet to be valued reliably, such as cross-ecosystem nutrient transfer (coral reefs), erosion control (marshes), and pollution control (mangroves). An important issue for valuing certain ECE services, such as coastal protection and habitat-fishery linkages, is that the ecological functions underlying these services vary spatially and temporally. Allowing for the connectivity between ECE habitats also may have important implications for assessing the ecological functions underlying key ecosystems services, such coastal protection, control of erosion, and habitat-fishery linkages. Finally, we conclude by suggesting an action plan for protecting and/or enhancing the immediate and longer-term values of ECE services. Because the connectivity of ECEs across land-sea gradients also influences the provision of certain ecosystem services, management of the entire seascape will be necessary to preserve such synergistic effects. Other key elements of an action plan include further ecological and economic collaborative research on valuing ECE services, improving institutional and legal frameworks for management, controlling and regulating destructive economic activities, and developing ecological restoration options.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/10-1510.1

The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services

With digital equipment becoming increasingly networked, either on wired or wireless networks, for personal and professional use alike, distributed software systems have become a crucial element in information and communications technologies. The study of these systems forms the core of the ARLES' work, which is specifically concerned with defining new system software architectures, based on the use of emerging networking technologies. In this context, we concentrate on the study of distributed systems which bring to life the vision of ubiquitous computing systems, also known as ambient intelligence.

반도체 공정 overview

Social and ecological vulnerability to disasters and outcomes of any particular extreme event are influenced by buildup or erosion of resilience both before and after disasters occur. Resilient social-ecological systems incorporate diverse mechanisms for living with, and learning from, change and unexpected shocks. Disaster management requires multilevel governance systems that can enhance the capacity to cope with uncertainty and surprise by mobilizing diverse sources of resilience.

/pdf/social-ecological-resilience-to-coastal-disasters-4l1v0vsqf5.pdf

Social-Ecological Resilience to Coastal Disasters

Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology

Human impact on land : ocean sediment transfer by the world's rivers

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused major landscape changes along the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka that were controlled by the flow, natural topography and bathymetry, and anthropogenic modifications of the terrain. Landscape changes included substantial beach erosion and scouring of return-flow channels near the beach, and deposition of sand sheets across the narrow coastal plain. In many areas tsunami deposits also included abundant building rubble due to the extensive destruction of homes and businesses in areas of dense development. Trim lines and flow directions confirmed that shoreline orientation and wave refraction from embayments and rock-anchored headlands locally focused the flow and amplified the inundation. Tsunami deposits were 1 to 36 cm thick but most were less than 25 cm thick. Deposit thickness depended partly on antecedent topography. The deposits were composed of coarse to medium sand organized into a few sets of plane parallel laminae that exhibited overall upward fining and landward thinning trends.

Impacts of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami on the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka

We investigated the tsunami hazard in the remote French territory of Wallis and Futuna, Southwest Pacific, using the Gerris flow solver to produce numerical models of tsunami generation, propagation and inundation. Wallis consists of the inhabited volcanic island of Uvea that is surrounded by a lagoon delimited by a barrier reef. Futuna and the island of Alofi form the Horn Archipelago located ca. 240 km east of Wallis. They are surrounded by a narrow fringing reef. Futuna and Alofi emerge from the North Fiji Transform Fault that marks the seismically active Pacific-Australia plate boundary. We generated 15 tsunami scenarios. For each, we calculated maximum wave elevation (MWE), inundation distance and expected time of arrival (ETA). The tsunami sources were local, regional and distant earthquake faults located along the Pacific Rim. In Wallis, the outer reef may experience 6.8 m-high MWE. Uvea is protected by the barrier reef and the lagoon, but inundation depths of 2–3 m occur in several coastal areas. In Futuna, flow depths exceeding 2 m are modelled in several populated areas, and have been confirmed by a post-September 2009 South Pacific tsunami survey. The channel between the islands of Futuna and Alofi amplified the 2009 tsunami, which resulted in inundation distance of almost 100 m and MWE of 4.4 m. This first ever tsunami hazard modelling study of Wallis and Futuna compares well with palaeotsunamis recognised on both islands and observation of the impact of the 2009 South Pacific tsunami. The study provides evidence for the mitigating effect of barrier and fringing reefs from tsunamis.

Scenario-based numerical modelling and the palaeo-historic record of tsunamis in Wallis and Futuna, Southwest Pacific

Outcrops and cores of the Sirius Group sediments were studied at Table Mountain, Dry Valleys area, Antarctica. These sediments form a surficial veneer at least 9.5 m thick. Three facies — a gravell...

Depositional environment of Sirius Group sediments, Table mountain, dry Valleys area, Antarctica

/pdf/tsunami-unexpected-blow-foils-flawless-warning-system-99prdh3a10.pdf

Tsunami: unexpected blow foils flawless warning system.

An International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) consisting of scientists from the U.S., New Zealand, and Sri Lanka evaluated the impacts of the December 26 th 2004 transoceanic tsunami in Sri Lanka two weeks after the event. Tsunami runup, height, inundation distance, morphological changes, and sedimentary characteristics of deposits were recorded and analyzed along the southwest and east coasts of the country. Preliminary results show how local topography and bathymetry controlled the limits of inundation and associated damage to the infrastructure. At some sites, human alterations to the landscape increased damage caused by the tsunami.

/pdf/survey-of-the-december-26th-2004-indian-ocean-tsunami-in-sri-134js1bske.pdf

James Goff

Papers

Impacts of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami on the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka

Scenario-based numerical modelling and the palaeo-historic record of tsunamis in Wallis and Futuna, Southwest Pacific

Depositional environment of Sirius Group sediments, Table mountain, dry Valleys area, Antarctica

Tsunami: unexpected blow foils flawless warning system.

Survey of the December 26th 2004 Indian ocean Tsunami in Sri Lanka