The expanding wall and the shrinking beach: Loss of natural coastline in Okinawa Island, Japan

10.7287/peerj.preprints.27779v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Giovanni D Masucci ◽

James D Reimer

Keyword(s):

Sandy Beaches ◽

Vector Data ◽

Construction Work ◽

Reclaimed Land ◽

Okinawa Island ◽

Island Habitat ◽

Reference Map ◽

Post War ◽

Degree Of Severity ◽

Land Filling

Okinawa is the largest and most populated island of the Ryukyu Archipelago in southern Japan and is renowned for its natural resources and beauty. Similar as to what has been happening in the rest of the country, Okinawa Island has been affected by an increasing amount of development and construction work. The trend has been particularly acute after reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972, following 27 years of post-war American administration. A coastline once characterized by extended sandy beaches surrounded by coral reefs now includes vast portions delimited by seawalls, revetments, and other human-made hardening structures. Additionally, a significant part of coastal Okinawa Island is now constituted by artificially reclaimed land. Nevertheless, the degree of severity of the current situation is unclear, due to the lack of both published studies and easily accessible and updated datasets. The aims of this study were to quantify the extension of coastline alterations in Okinawa Island, including the amount of land-filling performed over the last 51 years, and to describe the coastlines that have been altered the most as well as those that are still relatively pristine. Our analyses were performed using a reference map of Okinawa Island based on GIS vector data extracted from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) coastline dataset, in addition to satellite and aerial photography from multiple providers. We measured 431.8 km of altered coastline, equal to about 63% of the total length of coastline in Okinawa Island. Habitat fragmentation is also an issue as the remaining natural coastline was broken into 239 distinct tracts (mean length = 1.05 km). Finally, 21.03 km2of the island’s surface were of land reclaimed over the last 51 years. The west coast has been altered the most, while the east coast is in relatively more natural condition, particularly the northern part, which has the largest amount of uninterrupted natural coastline. Given the importance of ecosystem services that coastal and marine ecosystems provide to local populations of subtropical islands, including significant economic income from tourism, conservation of remaining natural coastlines should be given high priority.

Download Full-text

Expanding walls and shrinking beaches: loss of natural coastline in Okinawa Island, Japan

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.7520 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e7520 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Giovanni Diego Masucci ◽

James D. Reimer

Keyword(s):

East Coast ◽

Land Reclamation ◽

Sandy Beaches ◽

Vector Data ◽

Construction Work ◽

Okinawa Island ◽

Island Habitat ◽

Reference Map ◽

Post War ◽

Land Filling

Okinawa is the largest and most populated island of the Ryukyu Archipelago in southern Japan and is renowned for its natural resources and beauty. Similar as to what has been happening in the rest of the country, Okinawa Island has been affected by an increasing amount of development and construction work. The trend has been particularly acute after reversion to Japanese sovereignty in 1972, following 27 years of post-war American administration. A coastline once characterized by extended sandy beaches surrounded by coral reefs now includes tracts delimited by seawalls, revetments, and other human-made hardening structures. Additionally, part of coastal Okinawa Island was obtained by land-filling shallow ocean areas (land reclamation). Nevertheless, the current extension of the artificial coastline, as well as the level of fragmentation of the natural coastline are unclear, due to the lack of both published studies and easily accessible and updated datasets. The aims of this research were to quantify the extension of coastline alterations in Okinawa Island, including the amount of land-filling performed over the last 41 years, and to describe the coastlines that have been altered the most as well as those that are still relatively pristine. The analyses were performed using a reference map of Okinawa Island based on GIS vector data extracted from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) coastline dataset (average node distance for Okinawa Island = 24 m), in addition to satellite and aerial photography from multiple providers. We measured 431.8 km of altered coastline, equal to about 63% of the total length of coastline in Okinawa Island. Habitat fragmentation is also an issue as the remaining natural coastline was broken into 239 distinct tracts (mean length = 1.05 km). Finally, 21.03 km2 of the island’s surface were of land reclaimed over the last 41 years. The west coast has been altered the most, while the east coast is in relatively more natural conditions, particularly the northern part, which has the largest amount of uninterrupted natural coastline. Given the importance of the ecosystem services that coastal and marine ecosystems provide to local populations of subtropical islands, including significant economic income from tourism, conservation of remaining natural coastlines should be given high priority.

Download Full-text

Treatment and Disposal of Municipal Sewage Sludge and it’s Resources Utilization as Construction Material

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.194-196.2061 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 194-196 ◽

pp. 2061-2064 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deng Ling Jiang ◽

Guo Wei Ni

Keyword(s):

Construction Material ◽

Sewage Treatment ◽

Municipal Sewage ◽

Municipal Sewage Sludge ◽

Sludge Reduction ◽

Reclaimed Land ◽

Sludge Stabilization ◽

Treatment And Disposal ◽

By Products ◽

Land Filling

During the process of sewage treatment, some by-products are generated and among them, the sludge stands out, because of the largest volume and mass generated, and for containing heavy metals in its composition. Sludge is generally disposed of through land filling and spreading on reclaimed land. It has resulted in seriously contamination. It is necessary to improve the method of the disposal of sludge. Balanced with the environmental and economic benefit, the disposal of sludge, the economy and the environment can be optimized so as to realize the sludge stabilization, sludge reduction and sludge reutilization.

Download Full-text

Visualization of the territorial origins of the inhabitants of the Recovered Territories (Poland) in 1950

Miscellanea Geographica ◽

10.2478/mgrsd-2020-0027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Szczepan Cegiełko ◽

Izabela Karsznia

Keyword(s):

Satellite Images ◽

The State ◽

Historical Maps ◽

Vector Data ◽

Second Republic ◽

Administrative Division ◽

Map Series ◽

Post War ◽

Comprehensive Study

AbstractThis paper gives a visualization of the territorial origins of the population of the Recovered Lands (Poland) in 1950. It constitutes a map series, based on Kosiński’s research from 1960, presenting data from the first post-war census. Vector data of the historical administrative borders of Poland was used to prepare the maps; specifically the administrative division of the People’s Republic of Poland from 1946 and the state border of the Second Republic of Poland from 1931. The administrative borders were modified as appropriate using, among other things, historical maps and satellite images. The results of this research constitute a comprehensive study on the origins of the population of the Recovered Territories. Twenty-four maps were designed, showing many aspects of the studied phenomenon.

Download Full-text

Twilight over England? Archaeological Excavation in England 1938–1945

European Journal of Archaeology ◽

10.1179/1461957115y.0000000013 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 335-359

Author(s):

Tim N.L. Evans

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Small Groups ◽

State Funding ◽

Construction Work ◽

World War ◽

Archaeological Excavation ◽

Rescue Work ◽

Archaeological Practice ◽

Post War ◽

The Impact

This article examines the location and context of archaeological investigations in England between 1938 and 1945. The analysis of sources, including national inventories and contemporary journals, dispels any notion that archaeological practice was suspended during World War II, despite the absence of some leading practitioners, and reveals that a surprising amount of salvage and research fieldwork took place. Fieldwork was primarily in the south of the country; it reflects pre-war investigative trends, contemporary knowledge, opinion of the archaeological resource, and the increased threat of war-related construction work, but also the impact of immediate post-war concerns such as housing and infrastructure. Although primarily undertaken by established excavators employed by the Ministry of Works, a substantial amount of rescue work was carried out by small groups, local societies, and individuals often outside State funding, which reflects an independent culture of fieldwork that continues to the present day.

Download Full-text