Marine Protected Area Needs in the South Asian Seas Region: Sri Lanka

Marine Protected Area Needs in the South Asian Seas Region: Sri Lanka PDF Author: John Pernetta
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 9782831701783
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Marine Protected Area Needs in the South Asian Seas Region: Sri Lanka

Marine Protected Area Needs in the South Asian Seas Region: Sri Lanka PDF Author: John Pernetta
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 9782831701783
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description


Recent Advances in the Geology of Sri Lanka

Recent Advances in the Geology of Sri Lanka PDF Author: C. B. Dissanayake
Publisher: Cifeg
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Coastal Environments

Coastal Environments PDF Author: V. Subramanian
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048130018
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
This book deals with the major issues being faced by the coastal population in Asia with emphasis on natural and man-made hazards, climate change impact and pressures caused by mega cities along Asian coasts. The edited book contains chapters authored by experts who are well known in their own fields of specialization relevant to coastal processes. Emphasis has been given to almost all regions of Aisan coast although coverage for south and south eastern regions of Asia is rather strong. Each chapter has been peer reviewed and revised before acceptance. In this book practical suggestions to mitigate problems in sustainable management of coastal regions are also discussed. The book will be useful for students, researchers in physical and social science, policy makers and climate change specialists.

Journal of the Geological Society of Sri Lanka

Journal of the Geological Society of Sri Lanka PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Earth sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Earth Resources

Earth Resources PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Astronautics in earth sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 758

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Medical Geology

Medical Geology PDF Author: Olle Selinus
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048134307
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Medical Geology is a rapidly growing field concerned with the relationship between natural geological factors and human and animal health, as well as with improving our understanding of the influence of environmental factors on the geographical distribution of health problems. This book brings together the work of geoscientists and medical/public health researchers, which addresses health problems caused, or exacerbated by geological materials (rocks, minerals, atmospheric dust and water) and processes (including volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Among the environmental health problems discussed in this book are: exposure to toxic levels of trace essential and non-essential elements such as arsenic and mercury; trace element deficiencies; exposure to natural dusts and to radioactivity; naturally occurring organic compounds in drinking water; volcanic emissions, etc. The text also deals with the many health benefits of geologic materials and processes. This wide-ranging volume covers issues in medical geology all over the world with each author covering their respective region. It provides examples from different continents as well as a state-of-the-art review of the latest developments in the discipline. The authors are all recognized geoscientific and medical experts working in the field. The book is written for a wide variety of specialists from geologists, geochemists, pathologists and medical doctors to veterinarians and biologists.

Mountain at a Center of the World

Mountain at a Center of the World PDF Author: Alexander McKinley
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231558503
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
At the pilgrimage site of Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka, a footprint is embedded atop the mountain summit. Buddhists hold that it was left by the Buddha, Hindus say Lord Siva, and Muslims and Christians identify it with Adam, the first man. The Sri Lankan state, for its part, often uses the Peak as a prop to convey a harmonious image of religious pluralism, despite increasing Buddhist hegemony. How should the diversity of this place be understood historically and managed practically? Considering the varied heritage of this sacred site, Alexander McKinley develops a new account of pluralism based in political ecology, representing the full array of actors and issues on the mountain. From its diverse people to rare species to deep geology, the Peak exemplifies a planetary pluralism that recognizes a multiplicity of beings while accepting competition and disorder. Taking a place-based approach, McKinley casts the mountain as an actor, exploring how its rocks, forests, and waters promote pilgrimage, inspire storytelling, and make ethical demands on human communities. Combining history and ethnography while furnishing original translations of sources from Pali, Sinhala, and Tamil, this multidisciplinary and stylistically innovative book shows how religious traditions share literal common ground in their reverence for the mountain.

National Symposium Role of Earth Sciences in Integrated Development and Related Societal Issues, 2-4 November 2001, Lucknow

National Symposium Role of Earth Sciences in Integrated Development and Related Societal Issues, 2-4 November 2001, Lucknow PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Earth sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Contributed articles; papers presented at the symposium.

Lagoons of Sri Lanka

Lagoons of Sri Lanka PDF Author: Silva, E. I. L.
Publisher: IWMI
ISBN: 9290907789
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean, has lagoons along 1,338 km of its coastline. They experience low-energy oceanic waves and semidiurnal microtidal currents. The Sri Lankan coastal lagoons are not numerous but they are diverse in size, shape, configuration, ecohydrology, and ecosystem values and services. The heterogeneous nature, in general, and specific complexities, to a certain extent, exhibited by coastal lagoons in Sri Lanka are fundamentally determined by coastal and adjoining hinterland geomorphology, tidal fluxes and fluvial inputs, monsoonal-driven climate and weather, morphoedaphic attributes, and cohesive interactions with human interventions.Most coastal lagoons in Sri Lanka are an outcome of mid-Holocene marine transgression and subsequent barrier formation and spit development enclosing the water body between the land and the sea. This process has varied from one coastal stretch to another due to wave-derived littoral drift, sediment transport by tidal fluxes, fluvial inputs and wave action or, in other words, sea-level history, shore-face dynamics and tidal range as the three major factors that control the origin and maintenance of the sandy barrier, the most important features for the formation and evolution of coastal lagoons with their landward water mass. In certain stretches of Sri Lanka’s coastline, formation of the barrier spit was very active due to shore-face dynamics that resulted in chains of shore parallel, elongated lagoons. They are among the most productive in terms of ecosystem yield and show some similarities to large tropical lagoons with respect to sea entrance, zonation, biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, some of them become seasonally hypersaline due to lack of freshwater input and high evaporation. Functions and processes of some of these water bodies are fairly known. There are a fair number of small back-barrier lagoons of different shapes and sizes whose origin goes back to sea-level history. They are located on low-energy coasts with prominent beach ridges and restricted hinterland geomorphology. Mixing processes of these landward indentations are hindered by elevated sand dunes, and their salinity increases due to poor freshwater input and high evaporation leading to seasonally hypersaline conditions. These sedimented lagoons, primarily confined to the southeastern coast of the island, are biologically the least productive, with limited ecosystem values and services. Another group of moderately elongated semicircular, slightly large lagoons in the same coast, formed exclusively by submergence due to mid-Holocene sea-level rises, do not receive sufficient freshwater input leading to seasonally hypersaline conditions. They are also biologically unproductive but some are ecologically important since they provide habitats conducive to migratory birds. In contrast, some lagoons on the southern coast receive sufficient freshwater via streams draining the wet zone, maintain more estuarine salinities, exhibit rich biodiversity and serve as functional resource units. Lagoons formed by mid-Holocene submergence and recession of water level with simultaneous chain barrier formation on the high energy southwest coast, which includes cliffs, small bays and headlands, show peculiar configurations and link channel characteristics. Some of these irregular water bodies have clusters of small isles and luxuriant mangrove swamps with high biodiversity but not very rich in catadromous finfish and shellfish species due to the restricted nature of the entrance channel and nondistinct salinity gradients. The barrier-built, seasonally hypersaline lagoon complex in the Jaffna Peninsula, the largest lagoon system in the country with multiple perennial entrances show extremely narrow salinity ranges towards the upper limit of salinity. The main lagoon is elongated and the shore parallel to eastward and southward extensions is connected by narrow channels. The other lagoon in the Jaffna Peninsula is elongated, shore parallel and ribbon-shaped and receives tidal water throughout the year but freshwater is received only from precipitation and surface runoff. Even though the lagoons in the peninsula are extremely rich in ecosystem heterogeneity their hydrology and hydrodynamics have been severely disturbed by infrastructural development for transportation and by attempts to create a freshwater river for Jaffna. There are a few virgin lagoons of moderate size also on the northern coast, south of the Jaffna Peninsula on both the east and west sides. They look very typical tropical lagoons rich in biodiversity and biological production but their structure, functions and values are virtually unknown in scientific or socioeconomic terms. The lagoons located on the east coast are not numerous but relatively large in extent. They are also an outcome not only of mid-Holocene sea-level rises but of submerged multi-delta valleys or abandoned paleo estuaries. When inundated, the multi-delta valley configuration became elongated and is shore parallel with a smooth seaward shoreline; both shorelines become irregular when coastal waves are weak, and internal waves are created by the action of local winds. Configuration of a lagoon formed by inundation of an abandoned river valley is irregular with a long entrance channel extended landward. These lagoons are highly productive with a variety of associated ecosystems, large open water areas and wide perennial sea entrances. When the lagoon is too much elongated, zonation is prominent due to fewer entrance effects. Lagoons form a particular type of natural capital which generates use values (fish, shrimp, fuelwood, salt, fodder, ecotourism, anchorage, recreation, etc.) and nonuse values (habitat preservation, biodiversity, ecosystem linkages, etc.) contributing positively towards improving the human well-being. Of many values of lagoons in Sri Lanka, only the extractive values are generally utilized at present, by way of fish and shrimp catches, salt production and use of mangrove for various purposes. Besides, coastal lagoons generate a range of nonextractive use values and nonuse values, which could add towards the total economic value. Misuse has taken place at several instances when “use” adversely affects the status of the resources or the health of the ecosystem due to vulnerability and poverty, population pressure, urbanization, development activities and multi-stakeholder issues. The status of lagoon resources shows that the resources in the majority of Sri Lankan lagoons still remain satisfactory, somewhat good or very good. Nevertheless, concerns for management of lagoons in Sri Lanka exist only where “use values” (extractive values, such as fish and shrimp) exist. There is no evidence of resources management in lagoons for inspirational, scholarly values or tacit knowledge of the same. Management for use values exhibits several stages from zero management to comanagement via community management and state intervention. Most of Sri Lanka’s lagoons have the potential for generating high extractive and nonextractive use values which could improve the human well-being, while maintaining resources sustainability. Unfortunately, these potentials have not been understood or “seen” yet by the relevant authorities, although a few instances of exploring this potential were noticed.

Phosphate Deposits of the World: Volume 1

Phosphate Deposits of the World: Volume 1 PDF Author: P. J. Cook
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521619219
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
This book is an important contribution to the scientific understanding of phosphate deposits.