published_or_final_version / abstract / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

La question des énergies marines renouvelables dégage des problématiques juridiques complexes qui intéressent le droit tant dans sa dimension internationale, européenne que nationale. L’effervescence des initiatives publiques et privées en ce domaine implique une approche adaptée en vue d’améliorer et de développer les instruments juridiques nécessaires au développement durable des énergies de la mer. Cette approche suppose trois niveaux d’analyse. Au regard du droit international, celle-ci se caractérise par une finalité environnementale qui relève plus globalement de l’intérêt général. En ce sens, la conversion d’énergies marines n’engendre pas d’émission de gaz à effet de serre et son impact sur le milieu marin est généralement minime. Avec le concours des énergies de la mer, les États seront à même de respecter leurs engagements supranationaux, notamment en matière de changements climatiques. De surcroît, le droit de la mer offre une sécurité juridique dans l’utilisation de l’espace maritime en définissant non seulement les droits, mais les obligations des États côtiers. À l’échelle européenne, la sécurité juridique est liée à l’objectif d’une part d’au moins 20 % d’énergie produite à partir de sources renouvelables dans la consommation finale brute d’énergie de l’Union d’ici à 2020 et encouragée par l’initiative des États riverains des mers du Nord en faveur d’un réseau off-shore dans le contexte de l’émergence du marché européen des énergies renouvelables. Au plan national, l’analyse du droit interne met en lumière les meilleures pratiques relatives au développement des énergies marines renouvelables en termes de promotion des investissements et de gestion durable des mers et des océans. / The issue of marine renewable energies raises complex legal problems which interest the Law in its International, European and Domestic dimension. The effervescence of public and private initiatives on the matter requires a tailored approach to improve and develop legal instruments to support development of ocean energies. This approach elicits three levels of analysis. According to the International Law, it is marked by an environmental objective resulting from public interest. In this sense, marine energy conversion does not generate greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on the marine environment is generally minimal. With the help of these renewable energies, States will be able to respect their supranational commitments, particularly regarding climate change. In addition, the Law of the Sea provides legal certainty in the use of ocean space, by defining not only rights but obligations to coastal states. At the European level, legal certainty is connected to the target of at least 20 % share of energy from renewable sources in the Union's gross final consumption of energy by 2020, and is especially encouraged by the North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid Initiative in the context of the Europe's emerging renewable energy market. On a National perspective, the analysis of Comparative Law highlights the best practices related to offshore renewable development in terms of promoting investment and sustainable ocean management.

L’Algérie est un pays producteur et exportateur d’hydrocarbures, mais cette source de revenus qui fait vivre plus de 30 millions d’habitants sera tarie dans moins de 30 ans. Le spectre de l’après-pétrole se manifestera au moment où l’on s’attendra le moins sans qu’aucune mesure n’ait été prise pour y faire face. L’une des solutions de substitution aux hydrocarbures est de développer le secteur du tourisme. C’est un enjeu économique qui assurera des ressources en devises et leurs effets positifs sur la balance des paiements. Sur le plan social, il permettra d’accroître l’emploi sachant qu’il existe un écart important entre la demande et l’offre en matière de travail. C’est également un enjeu environnemental puisqu’il nécessite l’existence de potentialités de qualité pour assurer sa pérennité.C’est dans ce cadre que nous avons inscrit notre recherche pour un développement touristique en Algérie dans sa dimension intégrée, respectueux de l’environnement, en étayant notre travail en prenant pour cas d’étude Alger, la capitale étant la vitrine du pays. Pour ce faire, nous avons établi un état des lieux du tourisme en Algérie et des impacts environnementaux sur les espaces touristiques. Le tourisme n’est pas développé malgré la diversité des potentialités et les multiples stratégies de développement touristique qui se sont succédées. Par ailleurs, sachant que le secteur touristique subit les impacts des autres activités sur l’environnement, nous avons détaillé les sources de dégradation en revenant sur le cas algérois qui montre bien la situation environnementale catastrophique qui prévaut dans le pays. Tout cela a permis de dégager des perspectives / Algeria is a producing and exporting country of hydrocarbons, but this revenue stream which made live more than 30 million inhabitants will be dried up in less than 30 years. The spectre of it after oil will show itself as we shall expect least unless no measure was taken to face it. One of the substitution solutions to hydrocarbons is to develop the sector of the tourism. It is an economic stake which will assure resources in currencies and their positive effects on the balance of payments. On the redundancy plan, it will allow to increase the employment knowing that there is a distance mattering between the demand and the offer regarding work. It is also an environmental stake because it requires the existence of quality potentialities to assure its sustainability.It is in this frame that we registered our research for a tourist development in Algeria in its integrated dimension, environment-friendly, by supporting our work by taking for study case Algiers, the capital being the showcase of the country. To do it, we established a current situation of the tourism in Algeria and the environmental impacts on the tourist spaces. The tourism is not developed in spite of the diversity of the potentialities and the multiple strategies of tourist development which followed one another. Besides, knowing that the tourist sector undergoes the impacts of the other activities on the environment, we detailed the sources of degradation by returning on the case of Algiers which shows well the catastrophic environmental situation which prevails in the country. ll this allowed to clear perspectives for a development integrated of the tourism on the coast of Algiers, which can be adapted to every entity of the algerian coast.

Globally, coral reefs are in severe decline (Jackson et al., 2001) and face potential extinction of 1/3 of reef species by 2050 (Veron, 2011). This decline is the result of the inability of coral communities to recover after disturbance events, often resulting in a shift from coral- to macro-algal dominated regimes. Reef resources managers are in need of tools to assess the condition of these ecosystems prior to, during, and post disturbance, especially in regions of the world where coral cover and diversity are high, yet management resources are scarce. Foraminifera have been widely utilized as bioindicators in both modern and paleoenvironments for more than a century due to their abundance, diverse functional morphology, rapid generation time, global distribution, and rich geologic record (Sen Gupta, 1999; Hallock et al., 2003). The FoRAM Index (FI) was developed as a single metric indicator to assess whether water quality supports coral recruitment and reproduction in Caribbean and Western Atlantic coral reefs (Hallock et al., 2003), yet the FI has not been widely applied to Indo-Pacific coral reefs. This study reports benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Pulau Karangmadjat, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, and is the first to provide in situ foraminiferal assemblages for the Mentawai region. Results revealed overall low Shannon’s H’ and Fisher’s alpha, and low Buzas and Gibson’s evenness values across 13 sample sites selected from a variety of reef habitat zones. Values for the FI were also calculated and were extremely high across all sites due to the dominance of symbiont-bearing calcarinid taxa, suggesting favorable water quality conditions. Q-mode hierarchical cluster analysis revealed 4 clusters, only one of which corresponded in its entirety to a well defined benthic habitat zone. Overall, a high degree of similarity between foraminiferal assemblages was present for most sites sampled due to the dominance of calcarinids, suggesting prevalence of a macro-algal substrate, and potentially a shift from a coral- to macro-algal dominated regime for this study area. Utilization of indices like the FI, when used in conjunction with non-FI analysis of foraminiferal assemblages, may aid managers in deducing drivers of regime shifts on Indonesian coral reefs, which may ultimately facilitate solutions for reef conservation and recovery following natural and anthropogenic disturbance. Further testing of the applicability of the FI on Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific reefs is needed to in order to test this hypothesis. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Seagrass is a key stone component for the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) ecosystem, and therefore it is an important topic for many studies in the lagoon. This study focuses on the effects of seagrass beds on the hydrodynamics in the IRL. A hydrodynamic model based on the Delft3D modeling system has been developed for the southern IRL including the St. Lucie estuary, Ft. Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets, and adjacent coastal waters. The model is driven by freshwater inputs from the watershed, tides, meteorological forcing, and oceanic boundary forcing. The model has been systematically calibrated through a series of numerical experiments for key parameters, particularly the bottom roughness, and configuration including heat flux formulation and bottom bathymetry. The model skills were evaluated with quantitative metrics (point-to-point correlation, root-mean-square difference, and mean bias) to gauge the agreements between model and data for key variables including temperature, salinity, and currents. A three-year (2013-2015) simulation has been performed, and the results have been validated with available data including observations at HBOI Land-Ocean Biogeochemistry Observatory (LOBO) stations and in situ measurements from various sources. The validated model is then used to investigate the effects of 1) model vertical resolution (total number of model vertical layers), 2) spatial variability of surface winds, and 3) seagrass beds on the simulated hydrodynamics. The study focuses on the vicinity of Ft. Pierce Inlet, where significant seagrass coverage can be found. A series of numerical experiments were performed with a combination of different configurations. Overall, the experiment with 2-dimensional (2-D) winds, ten vertical layers and incorporating seagrass provided the most satisfactory outcomes. Overall, both vertical resolution and spatial variability of surface winds affect significantly the model results. In particular, increasing vertical resolution improves model prediction of temperature, salinity and currents. Similarly, the model with 2-D winds yields more realistic results than the model forced by 0-D winds. The seagrass beds have significant effects on the model results, particularly the tidal and sub-tidal currents. In general, model results show that both tidal and sub-tidal currents are much weaker due to increase bottom friction from seagrass. For tidal currents, the strongest impacts lie in the main channel (inter-coastal waterway) and western part of the lagoon, where strong tidal currents can be found. Inclusion of seagrass in the model also improves the simulation of sub-tidal currents. Seagrass beds also affect model temperature and salinity including strengthening vertical stratification. In general, seagrass effects vary over time, particularly tidal cycle with stronger effects seen in flood and ebb tides, and seasonal cycle with stronger effects in the summer than in winter. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Increasing sea levels have the potential to place important portions of the infrastructure we rely on every day at risk. The transportation infrastructure relies on roads, airports, and seaports to move people, services, and goods around in an ever connected global economy. Any disturbances of the transportation modes have reverberating effects throughout the entire economic spectrum. The effects include delays, alterations of routes, and possible changes in the origin and destinations of services and goods. The purpose of this project is to develop an improved methodology for a sea level rise scenario vulnerability assessment model. This new model uses the groundwater elevation as a limiting factor for soil storage capacity in determining previously underestimated areas of vulnerability. The hope is that early identification of vulnerability will allow planners and government officials an opportunity to identify and either remediate or create alternative solutions for vulnerable land areas before high consequence impacts are felt. / by Thomas Romah. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

A confounding factor for sea level rise (SLR) is that it has a slow, steady creep, which provides a false sense for coastal communities. Stresses caused by SLR at today’s rate are more pronounced in southeastern Florida and as the rate of SLR accelerates, the exposure areas will increase to a point where nearly all the state’s coastal infrastructure will be challenged. The research was conducted to develop a method for measuring the impact of SLR on the City of West Palm Beach (City), assess its impact on the stormwater system, identify vulnerable areas in the City, provide an estimate of long-term costs of improvements, and provide a toolbox or strategies to employ at the appropriate time. The assessment was conducted by importing tidal, groundwater, topographic LiDAR and infrastructure improvements into geographic modeling software and performing analysis based on current data. The data revealed that over $400 million in current dollars might be needed to address stormwater issues arising from SLR before 2100. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Title from screen page; viewed 10 Dec. 2004. Includes bibliographical references. Electronic publication; full text available in PDF format; abstract in HTML format. xvi, 314 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.

Port of Kaohsiung is the most important harbor of southern Taiwan and it was once the third biggest cargo harbor in the world. Recently, the ranking of Port of Kaohsiung dropped from the 3rd to the 13th, thus the Central Government of Taiwan has introduced a plan to enhance the situations. ¡§Urban Renewal Project of Kaohsiung Port Railway Station,¡¨ involves the development planning of many sites and the waterfront regeneration along the Kaohsiung Harbor. This paper argues that the sustainability is the key of success of the project. This paper will (1) to discuss the gains from the economic developments, (2) to examine the details and discuss the coming challenges and potential obstacles in pursuing greater socio-economic goodness, and (3) outline the possible solutions, practices, and mechanisms which might be useful in attaining a sustainable development of Kaohsiung Harbor by studying other countries¡¦ success and failures in their waterfront redevelopment projects.

Climate change and anticipated impacts of sea level rise such as increased coastal erosion, inundation, flooding due to storm surges and salt water intrusion to freshwater resources will affect all the countries but mostly small island countries of oceans and low-lying lands along coastlines. Turkey having 8333 km of coastline including physically, ecologically and socio-economically important low-lying deltas should also prepare for the impacts of sea level rise as well as other impacts of climate change while participating in adaptation and mitigation efforts. Thus, a coastal vulnerability assessment of Turkey to sea level rise is needed both as a part of coastal zone management policies for sustainable development and as a guideline for resource allocation for preparation of adaptation options for upcoming problems due to sea level rise. In this study, a fuzzy coastal vulnerability assessment model (FCVI) of a region to sea level rise using physical and human activity indicators of impacts of sea level rise which use commonly available data are developed. The results enable decision makers to compare and rank different regions according to their vulnerabilities to sea level rise, to prioritize impacts of sea level rise on the region according to the vulnerability of the region to each impact and to determine the most vulnerable parameters for planning of adaptation measures to sea level rise. The sensitivity and uncertainty analysis performed for the results of the model (FCVI) is the first time application of a fuzzy uncertainty analysis model to coastal vulnerability assessments. These analysis ensure that the decision makers could be able to interpret the results of such vulnerability assessments based primarily on expert perceptions accurately enough. This in turn, would increase the confidence levels of adaptation measures and as well as accelerate implementation of adaptation of coastal areas to climate change. The developed coastal vulnerability assessment model is applied successfully to determine the vulnerability of G&ouml / ksu, G&ouml / cek and Amasra regions of Turkey that have different geological, ecological and socio-economical properties. The results of the site studies show that G&ouml / ksu has high vulnerability, G&ouml / cek has moderate vulnerability and Amasra shows low vulnerability to sea level rise. These results are in accordance with the general literature on impacts of sea level rise at different geomorphological coastal areas thus the applicability of fuzzy vulnerability assessment model (FCVI) to coastal areas is validated.