A UAV-RTK-LIDAR SYSTEM MEASUREMENTS OF WAVE ENERGY DISSIPATION OVER A SANDY BEACH AND AN ALGAL-REEF AREA

Wave energy dissipation is a significant factor affecting coastal hydrodynamics, coastline morphology, wave height transformation, and the nutrient uptake in the coral reef (Huang, Lenain et al. 2012). However, it is difficult to be measured since accurate and spatial-distributed measurements of sea surface elevations are required to compute this quantity. We used a UAV-RTK-Lidar system to test the possibility for the measurements of wave energy dissipation. The UAV system was validated to able to measure the ocean wave properties (Huang, Yeh et al. 2018). Two field experiments of measuring energy dissipation were conducted over an algal-reef and a sandy beach site, respectively. Nine and eight flights of UAV measurements on the algal reef and sandy beach were conducted for one tidal cycle. The measurements of wave properties by UAV were compared with those of in-situ instruments using pressure sensors.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/fBLbsBuK4AA

The Old Vero Site and the Current Paleoindian Landscape of Florida

Dr. C. Andrew Hemmings revisits the historical context for the Old Vero Beach site, famous for its controversial place in early Paleoindian studies in the U.S. This chapter also recounts the study of Early Man in Florida. Beyond this historical perspective, Dr. Hemmings provides a synopsis of the current research conducted at the site under his and James Adavasio’s direction. Important players in the study of early Florida, such as John Kost and Clarence Simpson, are included in the conversation. Together with the new study of Old Vero, Hemmings includes his and others’ research on both the Aucilla River (which this volume has mentioned several times) and the offshore research in the Gulf of Mexico. The Terminal Pleistocene landscape, and its biological and environmental setting, forms the concluding sections of the chapter.

Scimitar cat (Homotherium serum Cope) from southwestern Alberta, Canada

Skull and tooth fragments of Homotherium serum recently recovered from the Wally’s Beach site (DhPg-8) in southwestern Alberta provide the first indications that scimitar cat populated the area of the St. Mary Reservoir. Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating provides a calibrated age (2σ) of 12 715 – 12 655 cal. years BP. This is the fourth known occurrence of the species in Canada, the first outside of Yukon, and currently the youngest precisely dated occurrence of the species in North America. Well-preserved dentition combined with the temporal and geographic context allows the sample to be identified as H. serum. The specimen is significant as it represents an extension of the geographic and chronological range of the species.

THE USE OF Ipomoea Pes-Caprae PLANT SPECIES TO MONITOR METAL POLLUTIONS OF THE COASTAL SOIL

In this study, biomonitoring technique was applied to evaluate metals pollution at selected beach site. Ipomoea pes-caprae species were used to monitor the concentration level of lead (Pb), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), barium (Ba), and zinc (Zn). Besides studying the ability and effectiveness of this plant as biological indicators of metal pollution in beach areas, the study also aimed to characterize the possible contributors of the metals in the area. The selected plants were collected along the coastal areas of Balok, in Kuantan, Pahang Malaysia. The study area is directly connected to the fish landing jetty of the local residents. The samples were collected at six sampling stations along the polluted shoreline area in two seasons, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon; and were duplicated. The metal content in the Ipomoea pes-caprae was considered as the indicator of environmental pollution in the coastal area. Significant differences of metal concentrations were found in samples collected from different sampling stations with certain levels. A comparison of the metal contents to the control samples clearly proved that the area has been polluted with the studied metals. In general, lower metals concentrations were found in post-monsoon samples compared to pre-monsoon samples. The concentration of metal Al was found to be the highest in the plant samples; The plant samples were contained the highest concentration of metal Al; followed by Fe, Zn, Ba, and Pb. Based on the EF values, it is strongly suggested that all the metals uptake were via the root system. The results of the PCA clearly indicated that the elements of Al, Fe, and Ba were contributed by the soil origin; meanwhile the elements of Pb and Zn were correlated to anthropogenic sources.

Late Pleistocene horse and camel hunting at the southern margin of the ice-free corridor: Reassessing the age of Wally’s Beach, Canada

The only certain evidence for prehistoric human hunting of horse and camel in North America occurs at the Wally’s Beach site, Canada. Here, the butchered remains of seven horses and one camel are associated with 29 nondiagnostic lithic artifacts. Twenty-seven new radiocarbon ages on the bones of these animals revise the age of these kill and butchering localities to 13,300 calibrated y B.P. The tight chronological clustering of the eight kill localities at Wally’s Beach indicates these animals were killed over a short period. Human hunting of horse and camel in Canada, coupled with mammoth, mastodon, sloth, and gomphothere hunting documented at other sites from 14,800–12,700 calibrated y B.P., show that 6 of the 36 genera of megafauna that went extinct by approximately 12,700 calibrated y B.P. were hunted by humans. This study shows the importance of accurate geochronology, without which significant discoveries will go unrecognized and the empirical data used to build models explaining the peopling of the Americas and Pleistocene extinctions will be in error.