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Opere di William Neal

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There are a lot of characters in this novel and sometimes it feels a little muddled. It concerns killer whales being kept in captivity by aquariums where they are the star attraction. When Samson dies the company director employs Zora to obtain a replacement from the wild. As Zora refuses to voluntarily comply, henchmen are employed. When the vet, Katrina, is killed, the police and the DA become involved, Zora’s mother is threatened and Mickey, Katrina’s brother, wants answers concerning his sister’s death. The environmental message feels a bit tagged on, especially at the end. I would have liked to see it more fully integrated and it made the ending seem elongated and stretched.

The story is action-packed with plenty of drama, rise and fall, but it lacks heart due to the number of characters and thin characterisation. It will appeal to a lot of readers, but I would have liked a little more depth.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
TraceyMadeley | Sep 20, 2023 |
Picked up at the GSA convention, Atlantic Coast Beaches is from Mountain Press, publishers of the Roadside Geology, Roadside History and Geology Underfoot guidebooks. This is something of a guidebook as well, although it deals with the ephemeral sedimentary structures and natural processes of seashores. The authors first cover the geology of the Atlantic Coast, explaining why the coast of Maine is rocky and the coast of Florida isn’t, then on to discussions of beach movement, storm events, sand phenomena, beach shape, “reading” a beach, shells, and dunes. The final chapter is on human activities affecting beaches.


Since climate change and sea level rise are hot topics, the authors don’t ignore them; however, like most geologists they are not especially alarmed, pointing out that there’s plenty of evidence for Pleistocene beaches much higher than those of today. (I rather expect none of them own beachfront property, however). The single most salient fact I got out of reading Atlantic Coast Beaches is the observation that sea level change does not create beaches or destroy them; it just moves them inland or seaward. In the absence of any annoying features in the way – Miami, say – Florida beaches will look exactly the same if the sea level was 375 feet lower (as it was in the height of glaciation) or 200 feet higher (as it was during the warmest interglacial). There are nice rock cut beaches, with sea stacks, sea caves and all the other coastal features, in Maine that are currently 200 feet above sea level. (Interestingly, this suggests that the sea level change during the interglacial was probably quite rapid, outpacing isostatic rebound from the loss of all that ice. Coastlines in Scandinavia are still rising from glacial rebound, despite the supposed rapid sea level change due to global warming; for the ocean to be able to cut high elevation beaches in Maine the sea level must have gone up much faster than it’s supposed to be doing now).


The final chapter on beach development is pretty critical. The authors point out that attempts to “save beaches” usually are nothing of the sort; they’re attempts to save buildings along the beach. Various engineered features – groins, jetties, sea walls – usually cause sand transport away from places where people want it, rather than keeping it there. Beach “nourishment”, where sand is dredged from offshore or transported from inland, usually only lasts till the next big storm (the chapter on storms gave me another new fact; New England nor’easters are usually cause more beach changes than hurricanes, since the hurricanes move faster. That has some implications for paleoclimatology, since it’s usually assumed that hurricanes are the most effective way to do mechanical sediment turbation). The authors suggestions for beaches include stopping funding for beach engineering – not likely to happen, alas.


Interesting and informative and I’ll certainly take it with me next time I go to the seashore.
… (altro)
½
 
Segnalato
setnahkt | 1 altra recensione | Dec 4, 2017 |
A Guide to ripples, dunes, and other natural features of teh seashore.
 
Segnalato
jhawn | 1 altra recensione | Jul 31, 2017 |

Statistiche

Opere
6
Utenti
31
Popolarità
#440,253
Voto
½ 3.6
Recensioni
3
ISBN
6
Lingue
1