The grain-size characterisation of coastal sand from the Somme estuary to Belgium: Sediment sorting processes and mixing in a tide- and storm-dominated setting

Sand-rich Holocene to modern clastic deposits in the eastern English Channel and the southern North Sea coasts of France and Belgium occur extensively as nearshore-sand bank, estuarine-tidal flat, aeolian dune and beach sub-environments. Sand samples (n = 665) collected from these deposits suggest the presence of three different populations: a largely dominant (83%) medium to fine quartz sand population (“b”), and finer- (14%) and coarser-grained (4%) populations (respectively “c” and “a”). The distribution of these populations among the four sub-environments reflects tide- and storm-dominated sorting and transport processes and a variable degree of mixing. These populations are derived from a mixture of very fine- to very coarse-grained fluvial, outwash and paraglacial sediments deposited on the beds of the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea during the late Pleistocene lowstand. The nearshore-sand bank environment, which also corresponds to the main offshore source area of the coastal deposits, exhibits population heterogeneity reflecting the variability of hydrodynamic conditions and sediment sorting in this zone. The nearshore topography of tidal ridges, banks and troughs in these tidal seas leads to variable bed and tide- and storm-induced shear stress conditions. These conditions only allow for the mobilisation and onshore transport of some of the finer fractions (populations “b” and “c”), leaving an offshore mixture of these finer populations with coarser, less mobilisable sediments (population “a”). Once in the coastal zone, these two finer populations undergo further hydrodynamic sorting and segregation. Variably sorted very fine sands to silts (population “c”) are trapped in the low-energy estuarine-tidal flat sub-environment, while the highly homogeneous population “b” is further sorted in aeolian dune and beach sub-environments. This sorting occurs via a coastal sand transport pathway linking the Somme estuary mouth to the southern North Sea bight where tidal range and wave energy decrease relative to the English Channel. Since this sand transport pathway enables longshore transport of hydrodynamically sorted medium to fine sand derived directly from the immediate nearshore zone, it has further contributed to a net flux of this sand population from the eastern English Channel sea bed to the southern North Sea.     

‘The forest is our inheritance’: An introduction to Semai Orang Asli place‐naming and belonging in the Bukit Tapah Forest Reserve

The forest realm of the Gòòl‐War watershed of southeast Perak, Malaysia holds much socio‐cultural significance to the Semai Orang Asli communities living along these rivers. Notwithstanding its present‐day location within the Bukit Tapah Forest Reserve, the forest continues to be where Semai conceptions of history and lore are encoded in the geographical particulars of the landscape. A thriving forest‐dependent lifestyle maintains and transmits Semai place knowledge, observed in this research through people's command of ancestral place‐names. This paper provides an introduction to Semai toponymy and considers the implications of indigenous place‐names on the protection of indigenous homelands and ways of life.     

Freshwater seepages and ephemeral macroalgae proliferation in an intertidal bay: II. Effect on benthic biomass and metabolism

Intertidal soft-sediments biomass and metabolism are naturally heterogeneous in time and space at different scales. Particular perturbations such as freshwater seepages and seasonal proliferation of ephemeral macroalgae can intermittently and/or locally create additional variability in these systems. Since the impacts of such environmental stresses on natural processes are not well understood, the hypothesis that they would affect the functioning of the benthic system was tested. An intertidal bay whose structure and functioning has been previously described and where a carbon budget has been calculated, was chosen. The results showed that the metabolism of the intertidal sediments was greatly impacted by the above perturbations. Freshwater seepage increased meiofauna and microalgae biomasses and enhanced the total benthic metabolism (increasing community respiration and gross primary production until 4 and 2 fold respectively) without altering its seasonal trend. Ephemeral macroalgae proliferation had a more important effect on the total benthic metabolism, increasing community respiration and gross primary production 8 and 12 fold respectively and leading to a change in the seasonal trend.     

任务语言教学法在大学英语教学中的运用

任务语言教学法注重语言的实际应用，旨在提高学生的交际能力。在大学英语教学实践中积极采用任务语言教学法，侧重培养学生的学习兴趣和交际能力。使用任务语言教学法有助于学生英语自学能力的培养和交际能力的提高。     

探讨英语教学后发优势与学生英语交际能力的可持续提高

从教学理论和课程模式方面对英语教学的后发优势进行研究,并详细探讨了后发优势对大学英语教学和学生语言交际能力提高的影响.一切从实际出发,发挥后发优势能促进教学各方面的创新和跨越式发展.     

Remote sensing observations of biological material by LANDSAT along a tidal thermal front and their relevancy to the available field data

Two images recorded on two successive summer days by LANDSAT satellite over the western approaches to the English Channel show bright pattern of complex shape the origin of which is puzzling. Among the wavelength bands available on LANDSAT's multispectral scanner, these patterns are apparent only in the green region of the spectrum, and they are located towards the stratified side of a well marked tidal thermal front. Spectral signature analysis and available knowledge on hydrography and plankton in the area are used to derive a proposed interpretation. Phytoplankton would accordingly be the best candidate for being responsible for the observed patterns.     

Legal implications of mobile shorelines in Great Britain

This paper highlights the three legally defined property areas that lie in the coastal zone in Great Britain (land, foreshore and seabed), and considers the mechanisms used by the two legal systems that operate on the mainland (Scots and English law) to cope with natural processes of erosion and accretion. The two legal systems are shown to be slightly different in how they accommodate erosion and accretion. However, they both have difficulty in coherently addressing the issues of coastal mobility and land ownership, which raises important questions of social justice, as they are based on the perceptions of judges in historic cases.     

Shore platform lowering due to frost shattering during the 2009 winter at mesnil Val,English channel coast,NW France

In 2008–2009, a severe cold snap affected the otherwise temperate mid‐latitude coasts of the English Channel of France. In March 2009, we gathered rock spalling observations at Mesnil Val, NW France, to document the effect of frost on platform lowering in macro‐tidal environments. Six epochs of frost were recorded in 2 months, the two longest lasted 16 and 8 days, with minimum air temperature dropping to –9.5°C. Semi‐diurnal tides flood the entire platform, imposing up to 25 freeze–thaw cycles below –2.5°C, the freezing temperature of seawater. 19 cycles occurred at neap tidal elevation lasting at most 3.5 h. Our integrated observations indicate that these frost cycles were responsible for a platform lowering of about 0.8±0.5 mm during a single winter. No clear spatial trend appears, nor do macroscopic chalk types clearly stand out as being more susceptible to erosion. Assuming that the long‐term platform retreat model preserves a constant slope, frost shattering would then account for 10 to 20% of the expected annual platform erosion rate. Under more contrasted climates, frost is thus likely to be a prominent shaping process for rocky coastal platforms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hawaiian oral tradition describes 400 years of volcanic activity at Kīlauea

Culturally significant oral tradition involving Pele, the Hawaiian volcano deity, and her youngest sister Hi'iaka may involve the two largest volcanic events to have taken place in Hawai'i since human settlement: the roughly 60-year-long ‘Ailā’au eruption during the 15th century and the following development of Kīlauea's caldera. In 1823, Rev. William Ellis and three others became the first Europeans to visit Kīlauea's summit and were told stories about Kīlauea's activity that are consistent with the Pele–Hi'iaka account and extend the oral tradition through the 18th century. Recent geologic studies confirm the essence of the oral traditions and illustrate the potential value of examining other Hawaiian chants and stories for more information about past volcanic activity in Hawai‘i.     

Characterization of Chlorination By-products in Cooling Effluents of Coastal Nuclear Power Stations

In power stations, the cooling effluents are chlorinated to avoid excessive biofouling. Yet, this disinfecting treatment leads to the formation of halogenated by-products. In spite of possible toxicity of such compounds towards aquatic organisms, there is an evident lack of information on the formation of halogenated compounds in chlorinated seawater samples. So, this study was undertaken to identify and quantify halogenated compounds (i.e. trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, halophenols and haloacetic acids) in effluents from three French nuclear power stations. In addition, experiments conducted in the laboratory allowed the determination of the kinetics of formation of the main compounds detected: bromoform, dihaloacetonitrile, 2,4,6-tribromophenol and dibromoacetic acid. Good agreement was obtained between the experiments conducted either on site or in the laboratory. In particular, evidence was given on the formation of brominated compounds (due to the high concentrations of bromide ions in seawater).