A revision of the Jurassic (Bathonian to Oxfordian) lithostratigraphy of the onshore Moray Firth Basin,north-east Scotland

Bathonian to Oxfordian strata occur onshore in two principal locations over 30 km apart on the coast of the Moray Firth, at Brora and Balintore. The existing lithostratigraphy has the same formation names applied to both successions despite profound differences, exemplified in their schemes of local members. Furthermore, three of the formation names include the same place name, and use obsolete lithological terms.     

To Inhabit Well: Counterhegemonic Movements and the Right to the City

A right to the city, understood as a conjoint claim to a right to inhabit urban space well, can be an effective starting point from which diverse urban movements can begin to build broad counterhegemonic coalitions for alternative urban futures. In this article, I argue that the right to the city supports the project of establishing relations of equivalence among members of coalitions––balancing relations of sameness/difference and interdependence/autonomy.     

Factors controlling the survival of coastal dunes during multiple hurricane impacts in 2004 and 2005: Santa Rosa barrier island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island is an 85 km-long, wave-dominated low-lying barrier island situated along the northwestern Florida coast, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The entire island was severely impacted by Ivan, a strong category 3 hurricane that made landfall about 45 km to the west in September of 2004. Ten months later in July of 2005, Dennis, another category 3 hurricane, made landfall about 30 km east of the western tip of the island. Santa Rosa Island is characterized by well-developed but relatively low dunefields, described in this paper as incipient and established dunes, based on the presence of grassy and woody types of vegetation, respectively. The dunes were severely eroded by the two hurricanes. This paper investigates the factors controlling the regional-scale destruction and survival of the dunefields.Dune survival is controlled by: 1) hurricane characteristics, including intensity, duration, and frequency, and 2) morphological parameters including width of the barrier island, height and width of the dunefields, vegetation type, distance of the dunes to the ocean, and continuity of the dunefields. Three processes of dune destruction are described including, from most to least severe, inundation, overwash, and scarping. The interaction of all the above factors determines the different dune responses to the storm impacts. In general, the extensive and densely woody vegetated dunefields near the bay-side shoreline survived the storms, while the discontinuous dunes with grassy vegetation near the Gulf shoreline were almost completely destroyed.     

Modelling the time course of shade,temperature, and wood recovery in streams with riparian forest restoration

Action is increasingly being taken in New Zealand and elsewhere to restore ecological function to streams through planting of riparian zones. We used simulation modelling to explore the relative performance of three strategies to restore the riparian zone of a pastoral stream to native forest by: (1) passive regeneration; (2) planting then abandonment of a Pinus radiata plantation; and (3) active restoration by planting selected native trees. We linked the forest model LINKNZ with a shade and temperature model (sWAIORA), and a wood model (OSU_STREAMWOOD) to simulate recovery trajectories for key forest stream attributes in hypothetical streams (1.3–14.0 m channel width) in the central North Island, New Zealand. Both active restoration strategies outperformed passive regeneration in shade, temperature and stream wood volume for most of the simulation time (800 years). Although the abandoned pine plantation provided greatest shade initially (<100 years), active native planting provided the greatest benefits overall. In general, recovery of stream shade (and temperature) is expected within decades, is accelerated by deliberate planting, and is fastest in small streams in which thermal stress from sunlight exposure is greatest. However, full recovery of stream and riparian function may take centuries, being dependent on large trees providing wood to structure the channel.     

Retrieval of Suspended Sediment from Advanced Hyperspectral Sensor Data in the Scheldt Estuary at Different Stages in the Tidal Cycle

Hyperspectral airborne remote sensing images and in-situ data are combined to assess the spatial and temporal sediment dynamics in the tidal Scheldt river. A log-linear empirical relationship has been developed between a near-infrared reflectance difference and total suspended matter. The relationship was shown to be relatively insensitive to the varying cirrus cloud cover occurring during data acquisition. The produced sediment maps show good agreement with known variations of turbidity over the tidal cycle: maximum turbidity around high water, gradual settling of the sediment in the succeeding slack water and resuspension at the onset of the ebb flow stage.     

Accidental spills at sea - Risk, impact, mitigation and the need for co-ordinated post-incident monitoring

A fully integrated and effective response to an oil or chemical spill at sea must include a well planned and executed post-incident assessment of environmental contamination and damage. While salvage, rescue and clean-up operations are generally well considered, including reviews and exercises, the expertise, resources, networks and logistical planning required to achieve prompt and effective post-spill impact assessment and monitoring are not generally well established.The arrangement and co-ordination of post-incident monitoring and impact assessment need to consider sampling design, biological effects, chemical analysis and collection/interpretation of expert local knowledge. This paper discusses the risks, impacts and mitigation options associated with accidental spills and considers the importance of pre-considered impact assessment and monitoring programmes in the wider response cycle. The PREMIAM (Pollution Response in Emergencies: Marine Impact Assessment and Monitoring; www.premiam.org) project is considered as an example of an improved approach to the planning, co-ordination and conduct of post-incident monitoring.