PROTECTING THE SHORELINE OF THE SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FROM SEA LEVEL RISE

The San Francisco International Airport (SFIA) has approximately eight miles of shoreline along San Francisco Bay. It was built on a series of land reclamations constructed between 1927 and 1972. Primary consolidation and secondary settlement are still ongoing and expected to continue for 10 to 30 more years (M&N 2015). Figure 1 - SFIA Shoreline and Runways The length of shoreline makes SFIA susceptible to flooding. The flood risk is expected to increase with ongoing settlement and future sea level rise (SLR). A system of seawalls has been constructed along the perimeter to protect the airport from flooding. The shoreline along SFIA includes the end of Runway 1-19 and Runway 10-28, shown in Figure 1. Because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that the end of runways be object-free areas (OFA), which prohibit seawalls from encroaching into the airspace and limits the allowable elevation, protection against future sea level rise (SLR) must be achieved without raising the seawalls. With SLR projections in San Francisco Bay of 1 foot by 2050 and 3 feet by 2100 (NRC 2012), SFIA decided to investigate alternative forms of flood protection at the end of the runways. Presented here is a feasibility study of alternative solutions.

Fauna of leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) of isolated Volga Islands and mechanisms of their secondary settlement

The following paper deals with the study that was carried out during 1974-2016 in natural and laboratory conditions in the Samara Region. The authors studied the features of adults leaf beetles survival as a result of the Volga river flood spill, flooding of the isolated island systems as well as migratory processes of insects. Over a 12-year period of field research, 11 entomologists, using 2 traditional and 6 authors methods, have collected 29 species of Chrysomelidae beetles on 11 large Volga Islands (3 of which are periodically flooded) and 20 large, regularly flooded shallows and braids. It is established that the fauna of the Islands leaf beetles is very close to the fauna of adjacent coasts by genesis. The authors analyze the origin and relief of typical Islands, the level of flood waters, the duration of flooding of the Volga river floodplain near Samarskaya Luka, the mechanisms of survival of beetles by adapting them to the conditions of habitats or features of their migrations, with the secondary settlement of island systems. It is established that, in addition to the active flight and autonomous navigation to the Islands, beetles use available boats - rafts from vegetable flood sludge, small and fairly large floating objects (from branches and boards to river vessels). It is established that migrations occur annually, completely regardless of the island beetles-predecessors population wintering success.