Essays on Sediments

Digital image analysis is a method of extraction of useful information from digital images by using various digital image processing techniques. A digital image is a two-dimensional matrix that consists of great number of smallest addressable elements – pixels. Each pixel has its own digital characteristics, such as address and color representation. Digital image characteristics have two main measures: spatial resolution that is focused on capturing details and tonal resolution that is used to measure color, dynamic range and bit-depth. Higher tonal, spatial, and color values mean larger sizes of digital image file. (Peterson, 2005, pp. 1-2) The appropriate method ...

Identifying Risks

The Hong Kong International Airport is connected to over 100 destinations through over one thousand daily flight by over 100 airlines. In order to fulfill the future demand until 2030, the Airport Authority of Hong Kong (AAHK) planned for the expansion of HKIA into a three- runway system to provide support to the present runways through the introduction of the Master Plan 2030. The 2030 Master Plan of HKIA has two alternatives in its considerations. The preparation of the master plan ensures that there is transparent, unbiased process of planning and professionalism. Consequently, the Airport Authority of Hong Kong ( ...

Defining the Coastal Environments in Tourism Industry

Tourism is one of rapidly developing industries in the global scales. Additional emphasis in this case should be put on the marine and coastal tourism - as two of the most popular options for spending the time and relaxation (Hewawasam, 2002, p. 2). At the same time, even while, taking into account general awareness among the scholars., pertaining to importance of tourism both in environmental and economic contexts, insignificant attention is paid by them to these two contexts of tourism (Sunlu, 2003, p. 263-270) The core need for additional attention to this sector is caused by insignificant understanding of ...

Introduction

Climate change is among the significant factors impacting ecological diversity on a worldwide scale. The growth of industries and the increasing human population globally have resulted in a rise in the volume of greenhouse gasses, which scientists have argued are the greatest contributors to the menace. The Florida Keys is one of the ecological treasures of the U.S. that continues to be impacted negatively by climate change and anthropogenic activities. This ecological treasure, which is located at the tip of the state of Florida, comprises about 1,700 islands that stretch for more than 200 miles to the west ...

How Geology Shapes the Landscape

Geology is a branch of science that focuses on the physical structure and substance of the earth as well as the processes that can act on the same. The earth being one of the planetary bodies consist of numerous physical and natural occurrences that influence the structure, landscape, and climate of different regions depending on the type of phenomenon. Rivers, mountains, natural forests have a lot to determine the climate, and landscape of a geographic area. Professionals in the field of geology focus their work on study and research in this regard. Layers of the soil, rocks, as well ...

Introduction

A dam is a structure specifically constructed to obstruct the flow of moving water, and by extension raising the water level. Dams are built for various purposes, such as a means of flood control, water storage, and a source of hydroelectric power, specifically hydroelectric ones. Some dams are also used in transportation and inland navigation by acting as bridges that connect one side of a body of water to the next. In other words, dams can have many benefits for a developing society. Because of their perceived benefits, many dams have been built all over the world—at least ...

Oil and natural gas are the two primary types of fossil fuels that the world relies on for energy and also for various other products. Crude oil and gas are mined beneath the earth’s surface where they formed a long time ago. The products origin can be traced back to the remains of animals and plants that existed millions of years ago as marine life. The living materials die and sink to the sea floor where they pile on top of each other. The successful conversion of the remains into oil or gas is only possible if the ...

Chemical Weathering

Chemical weathering in the mid-latitudes is the process where rocks are weakened and disintegrated by chemical reactions that occur in the soil. Some of the chemical reactions that cause chemical weathering are oxidation, carbonation, and hydrolysis. These processes are involved in either forming or destroying minerals and therefore altering the nature of the mineral composition of the rocks. The process of chemical weathering on rocks characterizes the second stage of rock disintegration. The first process occurs during physical weathering and it involves disintegrating rocks into small pieces which are further broken into smaller pieces by chemical weathering. The most ...

Sedimentary rocks are naturally occurring rocks with significant physical and chemical properties. They are of three types, namely clastic, chemical and organic. While clastic sedimentary rocks form as a result of consolidation of minerals or rock fragments, chemical sedimentary rocks form through the precipitation of minerals from solutions . On the other hand, organic sedimentary rocks form as a result of compression of plant and animal remains. Sedimentary rocks form near the surface of the earth and depend on the environment of their deposition and transporting agents. Some of the common examples of sedimentary rocks are limestone, conglomerate, sandstone, coal, ...

List of Figures

Figure 1. Class notes 4 Figure 2. (Earthobservatory.nasa.gov, 2016) 7 Figure 3. (Earthobservatory.nasa.gov, 2016) 8

Introduction

Seasons are caused by tilting of the earth around its navigational plane known as the orbit around the sun. Climate change involves the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. When the earth is in the Southern and Northern hemisphere means that the season is at summer. Changes in the tilt of the earth lead to changes in the severity of the seasons, for example when there is more tilt leads to more severe seasons including warmer summers and colder winter and when the tilt ...