Straits and Seaways: Controls, Processes and Implications in Modern and Ancient Systems

Straits and Seaways: Controls, Processes and Implications in Modern and Ancient Systems

Author: V. M. Rossi

Publisher: Geological Society of London Special Publications

Published: 2023-03-29

Total Pages: 527

ISBN-13: 178620570X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Straits and seaways represent key connections of oceans and seas between emerged landmasses, regulating water, sediment and biota exchanges, and influencing local and global climate. A good understanding of the dynamic evolution of straits and seaways is therefore fundamental to accurately reconstruct the paleoecology, sedimentology and stratigraphy of interconnected basins, to reconstruct past Earth’s system climate dynamics, and to exploit different types of resources. This book provides a comprehensive collection of articles dealing with both ancient and modern case studies, bringing together different but complementary disciplines, such as marine geology and process sedimentology and stratigraphy. With the contents covering the evolution, geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, oceanography, paleogeography and influence on climate of straits and seaways, the book is of interest to earth scientists in many fields.


Charting the Inland Seas

Charting the Inland Seas

Author: Arthur M. Woodford

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9780814324998

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Throughout the history of the Great Lakes many organizations have played important roles in the growth and development of the water system. Charting the Inland Seas highlights the work done by the U.S. Lake Survey, one of the most notable, yet least known, organizations in the history of the Great Lakes. With the first great influx of settlers into the Great Lakes region came the need for extensive surveys and accurate navigational charts. In the 1830s shipowners and masters pressed the federal government to begin a thorough survey of the Great Lakes in order to make available detailed maps and charts of the various routes by which the lakes could safely be sailed. In 1841, Congress appropriated $15,000 for the Corps of Topographical Engineers to begin a survey of the northern and northwestern lakes, thus marking the formation of the United States Lake Survey. Arthur M. Woodford documents how the role and responsibility of the Lake Survey grew as conditions on the Great Lakes changed over the next 135 years. Great Lakes ships evolved into larger vessels with greater drafts, creating the need for new and more exact surveys and charts. In order to more accurately predict the water levels of the Great Lakes, special forecasting techniques evolved. When erosion of beaches threatened to destroy valuable lakefront property, extensive studies by the Lake Survey determined the causes. And as the number of recreational crafts increased, a program began for the design and publication of large scale book charts for boaters to use. In addition, the U.S. Lake Survey was one of the military's major suppliers of maps and charts during the two world wars and the Korean conflict. In 1970 the federal government established the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the Department of Commerce, and brought together, in a single agency, the major federal programs dealing with the seas and the atmosphere, and the U.S. Lake Survey was reorganized. In 1976, the U.S. Lake Survey was completely phased out, concluding an important chapter in the history of the Great Lakes.