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Land Reclamation (land + reclamation)
Selected AbstractsAnalytical Studies on the Impact of Land Reclamation on Ground Water FlowGROUND WATER, Issue 6 2001Jiu J. Jiao Land reclamation has been a common practice to produce valuable land in coastal areas. The impact of land reclamation on coastal environment and marine ecology is well recognized and widely studied. It has not been recognized yet that reclamation may change the regional ground water regime, which may in turn modify the coastal environment, flooding pattern, and stability of slopes and foundations. This paper represents the first attempt to examine quantitatively the effect of reclamation on ground water levels. Analytical solutions are developed to study the ground water change in response to reclamation based on two hypothetical models. In the first model, the ground water flow regime changes only in the hillside around the reclamation areas. In the second model, the ground water regime changes in the entire hill. Both models assume that the ground water flow is in a steady state and satisfies the Dupuit assumptions. Hypothetical examples are used to demonstrate how the ground water level, ground water divide and ground water submarine discharge will change with the scale and hydraulic conductivity of the reclamation materials. The results show that the change of ground water regime depends mainly on the length of the reclaimed area and the values of hydraulic conductivity of the reclaimed materials. It is also seen that the reclamation may impact not only the ground water regime near the coast areas around the reclamation site, but also that in the coast areas opposite the reclamation area. A reclamation site near Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories in Hong Kong, China, is used as a case study to discuss the possible modification of the ground water system caused by reclamation. [source] Comparison of stormflow responses of surface-mined and forested watersheds in the Appalachian Mountains, USAHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 16 2006Timothy L. Negley Abstract The results of a hydrological analysis that was conducted as part of a larger, multifaceted, collaborative effort to quantify ecosystem functions in watersheds subjected to land-use and land-cover change are presented. The primary goal of the study was to determine whether a small watershed in the Appalachian region (USA) that was recently subjected to surface mining and reclamation practices produces stormflow responses to rain events that are different from those produced by a nearby reference watershed covered by young, second-growth forest. Water balances indicated that runoff yields did not vary significantly between the two watersheds on an annual basis. Statistically significant differences (p,0·05) in runoff responses were observed on an event basis, however, with the mined/reclaimed watershed producing, on average (a) higher storm runoff coefficients (2·5×), (b) greater total storm runoff (3×), and (c) higher peak hourly runoff rates (2×) when compared with the reference watershed. Results of a unit hydrograph analysis also showed, unexpectedly, that the modelled unit responses of the two watersheds to effective rainfall pulses were similar, despite the noted differences in land cover. Differences in stormflow responses were thus largely explained by dramatic reductions in cumulative rates of rainfall abstraction (measured using infiltrometers) attributable to soil compaction during land reclamation. Additional field hydrological measurements on other mined watersheds will be needed to generalize our results, as well as to understand and predict the cumulative hydrological impacts of widespread surface mining in larger watersheds and river basins. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The lignite electricity-generating sector in Greece: Current status and future prospectsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 9 2004N. Koukouzas Abstract Lignite plays an important role in Greece's energy sector as it satisfies over 70% of country's needs in electric power. The extraction of lignite takes place mainly in three regions of Greece, namely Ptolemais-Amyndeon, Megalopolis and Florina. The annual production of lignite is around 60 million tons, out of which 48 million tons derive from the coal fields of northern Greece (Ptolemais-Amyndeon and Florina). Almost the entire lignite production is consumed for electricity generation, while small amounts of lignite are used for briquettes and other applications. The Greek coal-fired power plants, which are about 4500 MW, use conventional technology and they are old (an average of 30 years). In the coming years new coal fields will be exploited in Florina,another 2.5 million tons of coal,in order to satisfy the currently under construction 365 MW plant located at Meliti, Florina, Northern Greece. Even though the lignite reserves are widespread in Greece and other areas such as Elassona and Drama could possibly host power plants, it is expected that the Florina power plant will be the last coal-fired plant to be build in the country. Lignite has to compete with natural gas,the construction of the main gas pipeline network has been completed,imported oil and renewable energy sources. The new EU regulations on power plant emissions raise obstacles for the firing of lignite, although it is low in sulphur. It must be shown that lignite produces low cost electricity in a environmentally friendly manner. The utilization of fly ash and land reclamation can improve the situation in lignite mining. In particular, specific attention was paid to further research and potential use of fly ash in road construction, the production of bricks and concrete, and the production of zeolites from lignitic fly ash. The use of clean coal technologies in power plants can solve many emission problems. Specific measures to increase the efficiency of lignite-fired power units might include: identification of the loss sources of every unit, improvement of the cold end of the steam turbines, optimization of the beater wheel mills operation, and the combination of natural gas-fired turbines with the existing boilers. The liberalization of the electricity market needs to be considered seriously from the lignite industry, since the potential electricity producers can freely choose from all kinds of fuels, such as imported coal, oil, gas and renewables. However, Greek lignite meets the requirements for the security of supply, as indicated in the EU's Green Paper. It needs only to be competitive in the new energy sector by improving mining and combustion conditions. Further research on these topics, through the European Commission's ECSC and Framework Programmes, as well as the national programmes, is required. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Global City Frontiers: Singapore's Hinterland and the Contested Socio-political Geographies of Bintan, IndonesiaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006TIM BUNNELL During the 1980s, Singapore's policy-makers perceived that the continued expansion of the Singapore economy required more spaces and workers beyond the 680-square-kilometre territorial limits of the city-state. While planning to extend these limits through further land reclamation, Singapore also began to foster economic cooperation with regional neighbours, most famously in the form of a so-called Growth Triangle incorporating proximate areas of Malaysia and Indonesia. The empirical focus of this article is on the tourist enclave developed on the Indonesian island of Bintan, a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore. This enclave embodies complex re-territorializations. We specify how, despite a decade of re-fashioning zones of Bintan into quasi-enclaves and the literal and metaphorical cultivation of a tourist haven, other claims on these transfrontier zones resurfaced in the form of resistances and struggles over the terms of access to land and resources. It is argued that the trajectory of Bintan is symptomatic of wider transformations and epitomizes new configurations of sovereignty, urbanity and ,gated globalism'. [source] A set of polymorphic microsatellites for Vochysia ferruginea, a promising tree for land reclamation in the NeotropicsMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 3 2002A. J. Lowe Abstract Vochysia ferruginea Mart. (Vochysiaceae) is a gap colonist of Neotropical forest. Because of its high tolerance of low-nutrient acidic conditions and high aluminium and iron concentrations, and its high potential seed and pollen dispersal, it is a promising timber species for commercial development as reclaimed forest on degraded land. We present here primer sequences for 10 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci for use with V. ferruginea to assess fine scale genetic structure and gene flow dynamics. [source] A set of polymorphic microsatellites for Vochysia ferruginea, a promising tree for land reclamation in the NeotropicsMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 2 2002A. J. Lowe Abstract Vochysia ferruginea Mart. (Vochysiaceae) is a gap colonist of Neotropical forest. As a result of its high tolerance of low-nutrient acidic conditions and high aluminium and iron concentrations, and its high potential seed and pollen dispersal, it is a promising timber species for commercial development as regenerated or reclaimed forest on degraded land. We present here the primer sequences for 10 polymorphic simple sequence repeat loci for use with V. ferruginea to assess fine-scale genetic structure and gene flow dynamics. [source] | ||||||||||