This research examines the relationship of two archeological populations in Southeastern Florida from the Middle Woodland Period. The two sites chosen include the Belle Glade site in the Belle Glade Cultural Area and the Highland Beach Mound site in the East Okeechobee Cultural Area. The determination of relationships was done through an analysis of nonmetric dental traits. A series of traits were recorded in an ordinal scale and later dichotomized into present or absent, in order to conduct a biological distance analysis. The statistical method chosen for this analysis was the Smith’s Mean Measure of Divergence. Results indicate that both populations have a minimal degree of divergence. These results corroborate the evidence gathered from past archeological investigations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Beach morphology changes naturally with seasonal and event-driven variability in the wave climate, as well as due to anthropogenic activities such as erosion mitigation efforts. In 2017, category four Hurricane Irma caused beach erosion and dune overwash in Boca Raton, FL. Immediate post-storm perigean spring tides coupled with typical winter high-wind conditions imposed a regime of spatially and temporally extended meteorologic and morphologic variability. This study evaluates the morphologic evolution and post-storm recovery in the first year following Hurricane Irma. Time-series topographic surveys and surface sediment samples were collected. Patterns of accretion and erosion were evaluated with regionally measured water and wind levels. Recovery morphology was generally through berm-building, but lacked shoreline stability. Storm impact regime, mitigation structures, and sediment transport patterns drove the recovery. Total volume lost above the 0 m contour due to the storm was not fully recovered within the year, with a large volume measured in the south. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research investigates land use change and the area of occurrence of an introduced primate species, Chlorocebus sabaeus, from 1940 until the present. Research into the importation and subsequent release of these monkeys has revealed that they were released from a failed tourist attraction in 1947. The attraction was located southeast of the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Remote sensing techniques were utilized to examine land use change over time, create a land classification map, and create a canopy model. These data were used to better understand the area of occurrence of an introduced primate species by examining anthropogenic changes through time and measuring changes in available forest habitat. Corridors, and their transformation through the decades, were evaluated to better understand potential dispersal routes and connectivity to natural areas for colonization. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Tailings (mining waste) disposal is a significant consideration for the mining industry, with the majority of the ore processed in most mining operations ending up as tailings. This creates large volumes of tailings, which must be handled and stored responsibly to avoid potential environmental catastrophes. The most common form of tailings storage facility is the impoundment, where tailings are contained within a basin, with beaches forming around the perimeter of the impoundment and a pond standing in the middle. A relatively new method of tailings storage is to create a 'stack', whereby the tailings solids form a large heap, with the discharge of tailings slurry from the apex of the heap. It is of significant value for mine operators and tailings engineers to be able to predict the shape of the beach that forms in either of these disposal scenarios. The key to being able to do this relies on a method of prediction of the beach slope. The aim of this work is to develop a method of tailings beach slope prediction for tailings slurries that are sub-aerially discharged from a pipe. In this thesis a literature review is undertaken, investigating existing methods for the prediction of tailings beach slopes. These methods are validated against relevant industrial and experimental data. Two separate phases of experimental work have taken place in an effort to investigate tailings deposition behaviour, one at mine sites and the other in a laboratory on a small scale. Three new tailings beach slope prediction models are presented; a simple empirical model enabling quick approximate predictions; an a priori tailings beach slope prediction model based on existing theories of open channel flow, sediment transport and rheology, which is more powerful due to the greater degree of theory in its foundation; and a new semi-empirical model that shares some of the theoretical aspects of the a priori model but offers better predictions due to its empirical calibration to the experimental data. The experimental results, along with 3 other independently collected sets of relevant industrial and experimental data, are used to validate the beach slope prediction models found in the literature, as well as the new beach slope models presented in this thesis. Statistical evaluation of the performance of all of these models is presented to enable comparison. Finally, a new beach shape model is presented for the three dimensional geometric forecasting of the beach surface of a tailings stack. Historic tailings discharge data is run through the beach shape model, and the shapes predicted by the model are compared with aerial survey data of a real tailings stack for validation of the shape model. This work not only presents a new method of tailings stack shape prediction, but also a plausible theory for explaining the concavity of tailings beaches. The stack shape model also has the potential to be developed further for the three dimensional modelling of tailings beaches formed in other types of storage facilities, such as impoundments or valleys.

La zona de rompents de les platges està governada er una gran quantitat de processos complexes altament no lineals i a diverses escales de longitud i de temps. Tot i això, algunes vegades s'hi poden trobar estructures morfològiques regulars, com ara punts cuspidals, barres de sorra uniformes en la direcció longitudinal, barres crescèntiques i sistemes rítmics de barres obliqües. La seva regularitat indica que la dinàmica complexa de la zona de rompents a gran escala pot ser explicable en termes de mecanismes físics simples en certes circumstancies. L'origen les propietats dinàmiques d'aquestes curioses estructures morfològiques encara són un problema obert, tot i que la comunitat científica hi està interessada des de fa dècades. En particular, escriure el comportament de les barres de sorra a la zona de rompents és interessant tant des d'un punt de vista científic, com per a contrastar les fórmules de transport de sediment que s'utilitzen actualment en enginyeria de costes.L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi és l'estudi teòric d'alguns mecanismes físics que podrien ser responsables de la forma dels perfils d'equilibri de les platges i de l'origen i la dinàmica de les barres de sorra a la zona de rompents (en concret, les barres longitudinals i els sistemes rítmics de barres obliqües). Es pretén així omplir alguns dels buits de coneixement actuals sobre aquestes formes topogràfiques. La principal hipòtesi de treball és que els dos tipus de barres es poden formar per -processos d'auto-organització'. El procediment consisteix en realitzar una anàlisi d'estabilitat per a cada tipus de barra, seguint els passos següents. Primerament es busca un estat d'equilibri rellevant del sistema sense les formes morfològiques. Aleshores s'afegeix una pertorbació a la topografia i s'estudien els efectes que produeix en la hidrodinàmica i en el transport de sediment. Si el transport resultant reforça la pertorbacióo inicial, s'obté una reacció de retro-alimentació positiva' i les barres creixen. Això és el que s'anomena un -procés 'auto-organització' del sistema o un -mecanisme d'inestabilitat' i podria ser una explicació de l'aparició d'aquestes estructures morfològiques complexes, sense estar associades a cap patró regular previ en la hidrodinàmica.El primer model teòric que es presenta en aquesta tesi s'ha construït per a descriure la forma dels perfils d'equilibri i la formació i migració de barres longitudinals, assumint uniformitat en la direcció longitudinal. El model està basat en una equació d'evolució de l'onatge acoblada a una innovadora formula pel transport de sediment transversal. La primera equació descriu la transformació i posterior ruptura d'onades d'alçada aleatòria i incidència perpendicular. La formula pel transport conte tres termes sumats: el transport cap a la costa a causa de les propietats no lineals de les onades, el transport cap al mar produït pels corrents de retorn i el transport gravitacional pendent avall. Aquests tres processos són la base d'un mecanisme físic d'interacció entre la barra i el punt de ruptura', que podria ser l'explicació pel creixement de barres longitudinals de sorra. Al capítol 3 de la tesi es descriuen els resultats d'aquest model quan s'imposen condicions d'equilibri. Els perfils que s'obtenen són similars als de les platges naturals i consisteixen en una terrassa plana i amb poc pendent dins la zona de rompents i una part còncava més inclinada més enllà del punt de ruptura. Quan el sediment és gruixut i les onades incidents són de freqüència baixa (situació típica de platges reflectives), els perfils tenen força pendent i una zona de rompents estreta. Quan la sorra és més fina i les onades són d'alta freqüència (platges més dissipatives), la zona de rompents és molt més ampla i plana i el pendent és menor.Al capítol 4 es presenta una anàlisi complerta de l'estabilitat d'aquests perfils d'equilibri respecte pertorbacions uniformes longitudinalment. Els dos objectius principals són trobar el rang de paràmetres en el qual els estats d'equilibri són estables i posar a prova la hipòtesi de si les barres longitudinals poden aparèixer com a inestabilitats del sistema. Els resultats demostren que tots els perfils d'equilibri obtinguts són estables, tant en el règim lineal com en el no lineal. Per tant, les platges amb terrassa semblen ser forts atractors dinàmics del sistema i caldria estudiar amb més atenció la seva freqüent presencia a les platges naturals.Els resultats del model lineal indiquen que una -inestabilitat de tipus delta de Dirac' podria sorgir a prop del punt de ruptura, però el seu creixement queda sempre inhibit pel transport gravitacional produït pels forts pendents associats. Les evolucions temporals no lineals realitzades posteriorment també tendeixen a estats finals que corresponen als perfils d'equilibri sense barres. Fins i tot començant des d'estats inicials força allunyats de l'equilibri i permetent una possible migració de la línia de costa, aquesta versió idealitzada del mecanisme d'-interacció entre la barra i el punt de ruptura' només ha permès descriure platges amb terrassa. Per tant, verificar quantitativament que el creixement de barres longitudinals pot ser degut a aquest mecanisme encara és un important problema obert de la física del litoral.Finalment, el segon model presentat al capítol 5 intenta reproduir la formació de sistemes rítmics de barres obliqües, partint dels mateixos perfils d'equilibri sense barres perµo ara permetent l'aparició d'inestabilitats no uniformes en la direcció longitudinal. El possible acoblament entre les estructures hidrodinàmiques en el pla horitzontal i la topografia emergent s'examina pel cas d'incidència obliqua de l'onatge. S'utilitza una fórmula clàssica de transport de sediment proporcional a diferents potencies del corrent mitja i amb una certa influència de les onades. En aquest cas, es demostra que pot existir retro-alimentació positiva' i que els diferents mecanismes físics descrits poden explicar el creixement inicial de diversos tipus de sistemes rítmics com els que s'observen en les platges naturals. Els resultats depenen principalment del tipus de transport de sediment dominant i de l'angle d'incidència de les onades. En el cas d'angles d'incidència relativament grans i transport dominat pels corrents mitjans, s'obtenen -barres orientades a favor del corrent'. Això significa que el costat de mar de les barres està desplaçat corrent avall respecte el costat de terra. La orientació és molt obliqua, o sigui que les barres són gairebé paral·leles a la línia de costa. La seva longitud d'ona és de diverses vegades l'amplada de la zona de rompents.En cas contrari, quan els corrents mitjans són febles comparats amb la velocitat orbital de les onades, poden créixer -barres orientades a contra-corrent' o bé -barres crescèntiques orientades a favor del corrent', depenent de l'angle d'incidència i de la influencia de les ones infragravitatòries en el transport. En tots dos casos, l'espaiat és de l'ordre de l'amplada de la zona de rompents. El temps típic de creixement oscil·la entre diverses hores i un parell de dies i les barres migren a favor del corrent amb velocitats fins a desenes de metres per dia.Les condicions que afavoreixen la formació d'aquests sistemes rítmics de barres són onatge regular i estats morfodinàmics intermitjos (situacions ni molt dissipatives ni molt reflexives). / of the thesisIn spite of the complex behaviour in space and time of the surf zone dynamics, relatively regular morphological patterns dominate quite often the beach topography at length and time scales well above those of incident waves. Well known examples are giant beach cusps, shore-parallel bars, crescentic longshore bars and shore-attached transverse/oblique bar systems. Their regularity indicates that the large scale complex dynamics of the surf zone as a whole can be understood in terms of simple physical mechanisms, at least in some circumstances. Remarkably, after decades of research, no model has been widely accepted to explain the origin and migration of these intriguing large-scale morphological patterns.Understanding the behaviour of nearshore sand bars is not only challenging from a scientific point of view but also very interesting for testing ediment transport formulations with engineering purposes.The main goal of this thesis is to investigate theoretically some physical processes that can be responsible for the shape of equilibrium profiles and the origin and dynamics of nearshore sand bars (in particular, shore-parallel bars and alongshore rhythmic systems of oblique bars are studied). This may fill some of the existing gaps of our current knowledge about these topographic features. The main working hypothesis is that these bars stem from -free instabilities' of the morphodynamical system. A stability analysis is performed for each type of bar system, starting from a steady equilibrium configuration of the beach without the pattern. A small topographic perturbation is then assumed and its effects on the hydrodynamics and on the sediment transport are investigated. If the transport pattern reinforces the topographic perturbation, a -positive feedback' occurs between the topography and the flow. This results in what is called a -free instability' of the system or a -self-organization process'. It can provide an explanation for the emergence of morphological patterns not associated to any previous regular template in the hydrodynamics.The first model is focused on describing the shape of equilibrium beach profiles and the growth and migration of shore-parallel bars, assuming longshore uniformity. A wave transformation equation, describing the shoaling and breaking processes of normally incident random waves, is coupled with an innovatory cross-shore sediment transport formula containing three terms: an onshore contribution due to non-linear wave properties, an offshore contribution due to undertow currents and a term accounting for the downslope gravitational effect. These three latter processes are the basis of the so-called -breakpoint-bar interaction', which has been claimed to be an explanation for the formation of shore-parallel bars. In chapter 3 of the present thesis, this model is used to predict equilibrium beach profiles, which resemble natural non-barred beaches. In case of very dissipative conditions (storm weather and fine sediment), profiles consist of a gently sloping terraced surf zone and a concave-up shoaling zone. For less dissipative conditions, the entire profile gradually becomes more planar with similar surf zone and shoaling zone slopes.Chapter 4 presents a complete stability analysis of such equilibrium profies with respect to arbitrary cross-shore perturbations. The aim is not only finding the range of parameter values leading to stable equilibrium profiles, but also testing whether shore-parallel bars can stem as free instabilities of the system. Results demonstrate that the equilibrium profiles are always stable, both in the linear and in the non-linear regimes. Therefore, the terraced non-barred profiles seem to be a strong attractor of this dynamical system and more attention should be paid to their frequent occurrence on natural beaches. The results of the linear stability analysis indicate that a -Dirac delta instability' tries to emerge at the effective break-point of the equilibrium profiles. However, its growth is always inhibited by the downslope transport that is induced by the inherent infinite slopes. The non-linear temporal evolutions subsequently performed also tend to final states that correspond to the equilibrium non-barred profiles. Even starting from initial states moderately far from equilibrium and allowing for a potential shoreline migration, this idealised version of the breakpoint-bar interaction is only able to reproduce the formation of terraces. Therefore, verifying quantitatively that this interaction can be responsible for the growth of natural shore-parallel bars still remains as an important open question in the nearshore sciences.Finally, the second model presented in chapter 5 aims at reproducing the formation of alongshore rhythmic systems of oblique sand bars, starting from the same equilibrium non-barred profiles but now allowing for alongshore non-uniformities. The potential coupling between the time- and depth-averaged hydrodynamics and the evolving rhythmic topography is examined in case of oblique wave incidence. The used classical sediment transport law is proportional to a power of the depth-averaged current and contains some influence of the waves. In this case, it is shown that -positive feedback' can occur and the different studied underlying physical mechanisms lead to the initial growth of several types of oblique bars.Results mainly depend on the sediment transport conditions and the wave incidence angle.In qualitative agreement with available field observations, for moderately large incidence angles and transport dominated by the mean currents, the emerging bars are -oriented down-current'. This means that their offshore end is shifted down-stream of the equilibrium longshore current with respect to their shore attachment. Their orientation is very oblique, that is to say that the bars are nearly shore-parallel. The wave lengths are of the order of several times the surf zone width. In the opposite situation, when mean currents are weak compared with wave orbital motions, either -up-current oriented bars' or -crescentic/down-current oriented bars' can occur. This depends on the wave incidence angle and on the influence of infragravity waves into the transport. In both cases, the wave lengths are similar to the surf zone width. The e-folding growth times of all these patterns range from a few hours to a few days and they migrate down-flow with velocities that can be up to some few meters per day. The conditions favouring the generation of these rhythmic bar systems are steady waves and intermediate beach states, in between the fully dissipative and the fully reflective situations.

Where do we go from here? is a video installation by Atlanta-based artist James O’Donnell that attempts to provoke others into similar contemplation of that existential question through an immersive video and audio installation exploring the self through references to the internal and external; past and future; and connection and disconnection.

<p>My doctoral work stems from an original motivation to understand more closely why some areas of sandy coastlines erode and others accrete<—>an intriguing fundamental question and one of societal relevance wherever human coastal infrastructure exists. What are the physical processes driving shoreline change, and over what spatial and temporal scales are they manifest? If forces driving the littoral system change, how does the shoreline respond? Can we attribute observed patterns of shoreline change to a particular process?</p><p>Recent novel numerical shoreline-evolution modeling demonstrated that wave-driven gradients in alongshore sediment transport could produce self-organized, emergent features on spatial scales from sand waves to large-scale capes [<italic>Ashton et al.</italic>, 2001], introducing a new theoretical perspective to the cross-shore-oriented considerations of the coastal scientific community. The unexpected model results inspired fresh hypotheses about shoreline pattern formation and the forcing mechanisms behind them.</p><p>One overarching hypothesis was that under regimes of high- and low-angle deep-water incident waves, alongshore shoreline perturbations grow or diffuse away, respectively. To test the hypothesis we looked for a correlation between shoreline curvature (showing perturbations to a nearly straight coastline) and shoreline change in observed measurements. High-resolution topographic lidar surveys of the North Carolina Outer Banks from 1996<–>2006 allowed robust, quantitative comparisons between shoreline surveys spanning tens of kms. In Chapter 1 [<italic>Lazarus and Murray</italic>, 2007] we report that over the last decade, at multi-km scales along the barrier islands, convex-seaward promontories tended to erode and concave-seaward embayments accrete<—>a pattern of diffusion consistent with the smoothing effects of alongshore-transport gradients driven by a low-angle wave climate. Why then, after a decade or more of smoothing, do plan-view bumps in the shoreline still persist? In Chapter 2 [<italic>Lazarus et al.</italic>, in review] we compile evidence suggesting that (a) a framework of paleochannels may control the areas of persistent multi-km-scale shoreline convexity that (b) in turn drive decadal-term transient changes in shoreline morphology by (c) affecting gradients in wave-driven alongshore sediment transport.</p><p>In Chapter 3, a third investigation of large-scale coastal behavior, we explore an existing premise that shoreline change on a sandy coast is a self-affine signal wherein patterns of changes are scale-invariant, perhaps suggesting that a single process operates across the scales. Applying wavelet analysis<—>a mathematical technique involving scaled filter transforms<—>we confirm that a power law fits the average variance of shoreline change at alongshore scales spanning approximately three orders of magnitude (5<–>5000 m). The power law itself does not necessarily indicate a single dominant driver; beach changes across those scales likely result from a variety of cross-shore and alongshore hydrodynamic processes. A paired modeling experiment supports the conclusion that the power relationship is not an obvious function of wave-driven alongshore sediment transport alone.</p><p>Our tests of theory against field observations are middle steps in pattern-to-process attribution; they fit into a larger body of coastal morphodynamic research that in time may enable shoreline-change prediction. Present hydrodynamic models are still too limited in spatial and temporal scope to accommodate the extended scales at which large morphological changes occur, but more integrated quantitative models linking bathymetry, wave fields, and geologic substrate are underway and will set the next course of questions for the discipline.</p> / Dissertation

During the onslaught of a storm on the coasts of Taiwan in summer and autumn, large waves and storm surge have often caused beach erosion. In order to mitigate coastal disasters and erosion, soft-options have been promoted in recent years, to fulfill the purpose of shore protection, as well as to meet the new requirements of landscape, ecology and recreation. Consequently, semi-natural approaches have been adopted in stead of the conventional hard-structures. This thesis aims to report a study on the effects of detached submerged breakwater layouts and storm wave types on beach profile changes and berm retreat. In order to establish a practical procedure to assist the assessment of beach profile changes with submerged breakwaters during storm, we first collect and analyze the beach profile change data performed in large wave tanks (CE from the US and PI from Japan), and apply the well known SBEACH model to derive regression relationship between the two key parameters ( and ) in this model against the non-dimensional fall velocity ( ). The suggestion of Larson and Kraus (2000) to include hard bottom option in SBEACH with a set of modified and values, which may be different from that originally developed for a sandy beach environment, is then carried out using the beach profile changes results conducted experimentally with submerged breakwaters (Risio and Lisi, 2010). Consequently, we have conducted the numerical experiments systematically to study the beach profile changes using submerged breakwaters under various environmental combinations (with 10 different offshore distances, 10 breakwater heights, 10 crown widths and 4 types of storm wave conditions derived from storm return periods), from which a new set of and values are derived and used in SBEACH for the investigation of installing submerged breakwaters to mitigate potential beach erosion. Our numerical investigations using SBEACH for a beach with submerged breakwater reveal that: (1) Beach profile changes in erosion (0 m line and berm) and accretion (0 m line) due to regular waves are more significant than that of irregular waves. (2) Storm waves with a long return period cause more erosion to the shoreline (0 m line) and berm, while that with short return period may produce accretion to the shoreline. (3) The further a submerged breakwater away offshore, the more sediment transportation offshore and severe beach and berm erosion. (4).An increase of submerged breakwater height would result in accretion near the 0 line; except during a violent storm event, when an increase of berm height could reduce berm erosion. (5) An increase to the crown width of a submerged breakwater could only become effective to reduce wave energy and berm erosion, if an appropriate breakwater height is used; otherwise, a mere increase in width with insufficient height would increase wave height and berm erosion.

¡@¡@The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the surface progressive gravity waves propagating on a gentle sloping beach in two dimension. Instead of using the method of Eulerian system by the previous investigators, we introduce the governing equations completely in the Lagrangian system directly. All the characteristics of the wave system is expressed by a suitable perturbation expansion in the bottom slope under linearizing the problem in wave amplitude, then all the governing equations are systematically expanded to order. The solution of the wave system is to be solved to second order , even to high order could also be obtained. Based on the obtained results, the velocity potential, pressure and motion of the fluid particle in the wave system in time and space is therefore presented, and we can see that the bottom slope is a main factor to screw the wave field to deform to break. Finally, the experimental result is cited to compare and verify.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [137]-142). Also available in print.