Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Coastal walks'

Walks organised at the community or 'grass roots' level both in Australia and internationally have been organised as a means to highlight environmental and social issues to the wider community. This thesis focuses on a coastal walk from Melbourne to Sydney during November 1993 to March 1994 called CoastWalk which was organised as part of the Australian Conservation Foundation's 'Coasts in Crisis' campaign. The Walk aimed to highlight environmental management problems specific to the coastal zone at both local and national levels using mass media, information evenings and targeting groups within local communities. Using a case study approach to the methodology, combined with principles from both social (interpretive) and empirical methods, this study involved determining the impact of CoastWalk, i.e. whether it changed individuals at the levels of awareness, understanding or action. The scope of the study does not include a detailed analysis of the communities themselves, nor does it explore the psychological aspects of individual and social change. It was found that the mass media aspect of the CoastWalk campaign created a short term awareness of the need to have concern for coastal management issues in those who did not participate in the Walk. For those who did participate, the impact was deeper and profound, changing individuals understanding and actions towards coastal management and translating into other areas of their lives. The impact of the Walk on local community groups who supported the Walk was negligible and it was determined that CoastWalk did not meet their needs. Community involvement in environmental management or campaigning equates to long term ownership and responsibility being taken for those issues. However, neither community nor government intervention in environmental management alone can resolve these issues successfully. This thesis argues that a combined approach from both community and government organisations is required - but as exemplified by CoastWalk, the success of this approach requires equality in communication and co-operation. As other environmental awareness walks have occurred, it is evident that they are perceived as worthy events by the community, and that there is potential for them to occur again in the future. It is therefore essential for an evaluation to occur of the techniques used to achieve their environmental education aims. Thus, the learning from previous Walks can be built into future Walks enhancing their success.

Intertidal wetland habitats in southeastern Australia have changed significantly during the past sixty years. Mangrove habitats have expanded both seawards and landwards, the latter being at the expense of saltmarsh habitats. This relatively common phenomenon is generally suggested to be an outcome of sea-level rise. Several factors potentially responsible for this change are examined, including changes in mean sealevel during the past 50 to 100 years, changes in climate, population growth, catchment landuse, and estuary type. A protocol for mapping estuarine habitats was developed and implemented, incorporating the application of geographic information systems. Spatial and temporal coastal wetland habitat changes at nine sites along the New South Wales coast are illustrated. These habitat dynamics were shown to not correlate between sites. The results demonstrate that sea-level rise in this region cannot solely account for the extent of change during the past sixty years. With the exception of one site (Careel Bay), there have been no correlations between contemporary mean sea-level rise and mangrove incursion of the saltmarsh habitats at the study sites, or with rainfall patterns, at the scale of observation in this study, which was largely decadal. The only correlations determined during this study have been between population growth and coastal wetland habitat dynamics in some sites. In spite of saltmarsh habitat loss being a regional phenomenon, local factors appear to have a profound bearing on the rates of change. Neither contemporary mean sea-level rise, rainfall patterns, estuary type, catchment landuse, catchment natural cover nor population pressure can account solely for the patterns in the spatial and temporal dynamics of the coastal wetlands of New South Wales. It seems apparent that regional factors create preconditions favourable for mangrove incursion, but that localised conditions have been responsible for the extent of these incursions from site to site. That is, despite higher sea-level and greater rainfall, the extent of change has been determined by the unique characteristics of each site. The results have important implications for current estuary management practices in the state of New South Wales. The lack of spatial and temporal trends in coastal wetland habitat dynamics point to the need for management to be conducted on a localised, rather than regional scale. Additionally, anthropogenic influences must be carefully managed, since the extent of mangrove habitat expansion into saltmarsh areas is unlikely to be a natural occurrence.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2008.
Title from title screen (viewed February 12, 2009). Includes graphs and tables. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Geosciences, Faculty of Science. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Considerable controversy exists in the world with respect to coastal quality. A multidisciplinary project was initiated to examine the health effects of bathing in sewage contaminated coastal waters, using a popular beach resort, Whitmore Bay, close to the cities of South Wales; and to explore ways of measuring public perception of coastal pollution at selected beaches in South Wales including Whitmore Bay, Langland Bay and Cefn Sidan. The research also investigated the regulatory framework responsible for the sustainability of coastal tourism and the effectiveness of beach award flags as marketing tools in the promotion of resorts. Current legislation addresses coastal pollution in terms of physical health criteria with little regard given to aesthetic quality of sea/landscape and psychological well-being of the beach user. It is necessary to overcome the dichotomised approach to beach management by crossing the boundaries between the physical and social sciences in order to take an holistic view of the coastal scene, accounting for environmental, political, economic and social aspects. An epidemiological/microbiological investigation was conducted at Whitmore Bay during the summer of 1995. Statistical modelling. using Linear Logisitic Regression, indicated swimmers to significantly increase their chance of contracting an illness in comparison to non-swimmers and also identifed non-water related factors to have a confounding effect; no interaction was observed. These findings were in congruence with other major studies. Beach questionnaires were distributed to elicit information on the activities, health and socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects during the day of the survey (n=1276). A telephone interview schedule was utilised 10 days post the beach survey to investigate the differential in illness rates between the cases and controls (n=585). Water sampling was carried out on the days of the health risk survey. Although, high counts of both Ecoli and faecal streptococci were recorded, reaching an average of 3400 and 440 per 100ml respectively, no dose response relationship was observed between morbidity rates and bacterial indicator density. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed to obtain data on beach user perception to coastal pollution and beach award schemes for both the 1995 and 1996 surveys. The 1995 questionnaire served a dual approach running simultaneously with the epidemiological-microbiological analysis (n=1276). The 1996 survey questionnaire was developed from the original 1995 questionnaire. and distributed at an additional two beaches in South Wales, Langland Bay and Cefn Sidan, (n=821). Results of both surveys showed that beach users were acutely aware of coastal pollution both land based and marine and suggested that public awareness of the different beach award schemes is low. Of the different types of award systems included on the questionnaire, the European Blue Flag Award gained highest recognition (26-30%), but even those that identified with it often had a misunderstanding of its true meaning. If consumers misinterpret the meaning of the flag which flies on a designated beach. then the designation of the beach will do little to offset consumers' concerns about health risks.

In this study, new design approaches are introduced for the seismic design of block type quay walls after reviewing the conventional methodologies. Within the development of the new design approaches an inverse triangular dynamic pressures distributions are applied to define both seismic earth pressures and seismic surcharge pressures. Differently from the conventional design methodology, the hydrodynamic forces are taken into consideration while dynamic forces are specified and equivalent unit weight concept is used during the both static and dynamic calculations Compatibility of this new design approaches are tested by case studies for the site and it is seen that the numerical results are in good agreement qualitatively with field measurements.

Coastal hazards and their associated risks are not new to coastal managers, engineers and planners. As an island nation the coast of the United Kingdom (UK) has been an attractive area for settlement for centuries. Consequently, a substantial proportion of urban development in the UK is at risk of flooding or coastal erosion. Traditional responses to coastal hazards across Europe have been based upon reactive, parochial hard engineering structural solutions in order to protect assets at risk. These practices have been predominantly sectoral due to fragmented institutional arrangements, with limited integration between the sectors of shoreline management and the land-use planning system. Additionally, historic coastal risk decision making has shown little understanding of the complexities of coastal systems. Whilst within contemporary coastal risk decision making, there is limited transparency as to the role of natural coastal change. Levels of uncertainty exacerbate the complex task of managing coastal risk, in particular in relation to the natural coastal change evidence base. Using a multiple-case study approach, decision making practices in relation to coastal risk in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were evaluated. Concomitantly, the role of the natural coastal change evidence base within these decision making processes was scrutinised. Research investigations were facilitated via the development of two distinct and innovative methodological approaches that framed and guided two semi-structured interview schedules and a number of documentary reviews. This deductive process included a case study selection hypothesis and a Research Strategy Model (with Empirical Indicators). Case study results established the complexities associated with coastal risk decision making, including historic, contemporary and likely future decision making practices. In particular, the range of decision makers involved and the hierarchical and framed nature of decision making were identified. Importantly, traceable coastal risk decision making relationships that exist temporally, spatially and sectorally were ascertained. Forcing factors or 'context issues' that influence these decision making practices were highlighted. It was further determined that the role of natural coastal change science, as part of the coastal risk decision making evidence is constrained. This was found to be due to a number of issues, including the perpetuation of the science-practice disconnect, aggravated by natural coastal change scientific uncertainty. Through analysis of empirical findings and consideration of the underlying case study hypothesis and previous construction of decision making, a conceptualisation of coastal risk decision making was developed. This seeks to convey hypothetical stages of coastal risk decision making pathways and convey the wider complex decision context, including intricate pathway connections. A revised suite of supporting Empirical Indicators allows for a structured and comprehensive assessment of decision making, and importantly, a mechanism by which to explore the role of science within coastal risk decision making.

Elevated arsenic concentrations have been reported in a drinking water and irrigation-supply aquifer of Stuarts Point, New South Wales, Australia. Arsenic occurrence in such aquifers is potentially a major issue due to their common use for high yield domestic and irrigation water supplies. Ten multi-level piezometers were installed to depths of approximately 30 m in the sand and clay aquifer. Sediment samples were collected at specific depths during drilling and analysed for chemical and mineralogical composition, grain size characteristics, potential for arsenic release from solid phase and detailed microscopic features. From this data, a full geomorphic reconstruction allowed the determination of source provenance for the aquifer sediments. The model proposed herein provides evidence that the bulk of the aquifer was deposited under intermittent fluvial and estuarine conditions; and that all sediments derive from the regional arsenicmineralised hinterland. More than 200 groundwater samples were collected and analysed for over 50 variables. The heterogeneity of the aquifer sediments causes redox stratification to occur, which in turn governs arsenic mobility in the groundwater. The bulk of the aquifer is composed of fluvial sand deposits undergoing reductive dissolution of iron oxides. Arsenic adsorbed to iron oxide minerals is released during dissolution but re-adsorbs to other iron oxides present in this part of the aquifer. The deeper, more reducing fluvial sand and estuarine clay groundwaters have undergone complete reductive dissolution of iron oxides resulting in the subsequent mobilisation of arsenic into groundwater. Some of this arsenic has been incorporated into iron sulfide mineral precipitates, forming current arsenian pyrite sinks within the aquifer. The extraction of groundwater from the aquifer for irrigation and drinking water supply induces seawater intrusion of arsenic-rich estuarine water, bringing further dissolved arsenic into the aquifer. A greater understanding of the source, sinks and mobilisation of arsenic in this aquifer contributes to our broad understanding of arsenic in the environment; and allows aquifer specific management procedures and research recommendations to be made. Any coastal or unconsolidated aquifer that has sediments derived from mineralised provenances should consider monitoring for arsenic, and other potentially toxic trace elements, in their groundwater systems.

There is a current environment of change and progress within marine protection, reflected internationally by examples such as the Convention of Biological Diversity and nationally by the Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009. Despite the UK's government agenda in this area, and the draw of people to coastal areas generally, the larger UK public lacks understanding and awareness regarding the marine environment. Combined with these circumstances, the social value of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs) has been largely ignored relative to conservation and economics drivers, with the latter invariably taking precedence in environmental policy making. There is also a need for an appropriate framework or methodology with which to address the above in light of communicating, particularly the nontangible, social values of MCPAs to decision makers. This research investigates the social value of MCPAs in England and Wales through three data collection phases. These include a series of interviews to gain a perspective of social value from MCPA practitioners and the public. The emerging results are then examined in light of their operational value through in-depth case studies. The results led to the development of two assessment tools of social value which can accommodate both tangible and intangible values. The tools included a normative statement of examples demonstrating optimum social value, and a social value zoning tool that allows practitioners to 'map' the social value of their MCPA for evaluative purposes. The final research findings are represented by a conceptual model of social value within MCPAs. The assessment tools and model assist with the clarification of social value within MCPAs and can be used by decision makers to assess and communicate the social value of their site and influence management practice. This work demonstrates social value of MCPAs from several view pointsand develops tools which can be used by MCPA decision makers to evaluate, and further develop social value within these areas.

Aberffraw is a lkm wide and 3km long transgressive dune field on the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, that extends inland along a northeast-southwest trending valley from a southwest facing beach, Traeth Mawr. The prevailing wind is from the southwest and both the parabolic dunes and the vaUey within which they lie are subparallel to the prevailing wind. The dune field at Aberffraw includes two foredunes ridges and three rows of active parabolic dunes. At the landward end is a lake, Llyn Coron, which has been formed by the dunes migrating up the valley and damming the river, Mon Ffraw. Rates of parabolic dune migration, calculated from aerial photographic analysis using a new linear fit method for compound dune forms, range from a minimum of 0 m1yr to 3.6 mJyr, with an average migration rate of 1 m1yr. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used to identify sedimentary structures in the subsurface of the two foredune ridges, four parabolic dune ridges and the associated interdune areas. Surveys at 100 MHz and 200 MHz allowed the resolution of both the gross dune field stratigraphy (bounding surfaces, erosion surfaces) and the smaller sedimentary structures (e.g. cross-stratification, foresets, cut and fill troughs), together with the water-table and basement. Interpretation of the GPR profiles used a combination of the radar facies technique and a radar sequence boundary stratigraphic approach to construct relative chronologies for sections of the stratigraphy. Detailed intersecting GPR surveys by Llyn Coron revealed a relative chronology of six sand packages younging successively towards the NE, bounded by erosion surfaces representative of relic lake beds. Large landward dipping erosion surfaces are interpreted as incursions by the lake, with a raised water-table resulting from highstand phases initiated by dune damming. Smaller troughs and planar based scours are interpreted as periods of deflation to a lowered water-table associated with lowstand phases of the lake. Prograding stacks of landward dipping foresets are interpreted as continued dune migration throughout these events. Hand augering was used to sample specific packages identified from the GPR profiles for Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating to provide absolute ages for sand deposition. Samples were also acquired from the neighbouring site of Newborough Warren for comparison, and for radiocarbon dating. Quartz grains were dated using a single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol that allowed for sensitivity changes and monitoring of thermal charge transfer. Thirty-four dates ranged from AD 1281 for a 5 m deep sample to AD 1981 for a modern bleached sample, demonstrating good precision in contrast with the radiocarbon technique over this time scale. and confirming the relative chronology constructed from the GPR data. The OSL dates for sand movement at Aberffraw show good correlation with both local and regional temporal trends in sand movement for coastal dune areas in NW Europe, with a positive correlation between periods of sand movement and periods of increased storm frequency and severity associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and climatic deterioration during the Little Ice Age cooling event.

Block type quay walls are commonly used as berthing structures both in Turkey and worldwide. In this study, stability analysis of block type quay wall is carried out using pseudo-static method. A computer program named QSAP (using Excel spreadsheet) has been developed for the design of block type quay walls. QSAP has been prepared based on the rules of Turkish Seismic Design Codes for Coastal Structures, 2008. Reliability of this program is verified by a comparative study of Derince Port block type quay wall, damaged in Marmara earthquake (1999), with manual solution and field measurements. A newly introduced placement methodology &ldquo
Knapsack&rdquo
is also studied with QSAP and the results are compared with the conventional placement method.

This thesis explores issues relating to the application of physiological-process models (???process models???) of forest growth to mixed species, mixed age forests, in particular the coastal blackbutt forests of New South Wales. Using a dataset provided by State Forests of New South Wales (Carter 1994 unpubl.) a numeric description of the forest was developed and stand-level parameters of interest were derived, in particular the plot by plot stemwood volume growth from 1975 to 1999. The amounts of harvested volume, volume that died and volume that grew into the measurement population were identified separately, and several different means of accounting for volume change over time were investigated. A method for quantifying the impact of harvesting and other silvicultural practices on the growth of the forest was developed and programs were written to convert the stand-level summary of the harvest impact into a semi-random selection of trees that would be ???harvested??? from the database under the set of silvicultural assumptions (Dore et al. 1999). A number of process models were investigated and reviewed before selecting one particular model, SUSTAIN (Dewar 1997) for adaption to these forests. This model is a relatively simple process model with a small number of input parameters. The model was adapted so that it could be used to compare the SUSTAIN estimate of growth with the growth of an individual stand of trees in the Kendall Forest Management Area, between Wauchope and Taree on the mid-north coast of NSW. To improve the accuracy of the prediction of growth by SUSTAIN, a method of re-setting the state of the stand to the actual condition at the time of remeasurement was developed. In addition, the SUSTAIN model was extended to enable two separate levels of canopy to be described and grown separately. Ultimately the model was only partially successful in mirroring the growth predicted by the empirical data. Its partial success is attributed primarily to the difficulties associated with correctly determining the allocation parameters used by the model to assign net photosynthate to the roots, foliage and stemwood. The nature of the change in allocation parameters when the forest stand is disturbed by harvest or fire needs further investigation.

This study considers relocatable homes as an alternative housing choice for male and female retirees fifty years of age and over. Homogeneous parks and estates planned for a specific type of relocatable home are compared with those which evolved from tourist parks and retain sites for both permanent and short-term occupancy. Four relocatable home environments are considered: caravan parks, mobile homes in mixed parks, manufactured homes in mixed parks and manufactured housing estates. The differential effects of 'age', 'house type' and 'housing environment' upon 'residential satisfaction', 'sense of community within the neighbourhood', 'social integration in the community' and 'psychological adjustment' form the analytical framework of the study. Residents of 34 parks/ estates on the North Coast of New South Wales completed 778 questionnaires. Case studies, interviews, letters and written comments provided data for qualitative analysis. Approximately 94% of respondents are satisfied with their homes and housing environments. Residential satisfaction is most influenced by the interactions and perceptions of residents; psychological adjustment is influenced by a positive attitudes towards self and one's neighbours; integration in the community is affected by levels of network. Each of these relate strongly with having a sense of community in the neighbourhood. Space internal to the dwelling relates to satisfaction, adjustment and community integration. External space relates to the need for a well planned neighbourhood which affords privacy, safety and amenities. The need for meeting places for small and large groups was recurrent. The results suggest that residents of relocatable homes tend to retain affiliation with organisations joined prior to relocation. They are not reliant on their new neighbours to integrate in their community. This result is contrary to prior research which studied site built homes and traditional neighbourhoods. The present high levels of residential satisfaction would rise if it were not for the overwhelming uncertainty of tenure and unjustifiable rises in site rent. The study reviews government policy especially in relation to tenure. A relocatable home offers no more affordability than a site-built home in the same area in the long-term but it does offer a preferred retirement lifestyle.

The Patonga Claystone, a red bed facies in the Narrabeen Group of the Sydney Basin, is one of the most unfavorable rock units in the basin from a geotechnical point of view. This rock unit is composed of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone and claystone. One of the unfavorable characteristics is the low shear strength, which causes instability of cut slopes; another is its slaking-prone behaviour. Numerous measurements of geotechnical properties, along with extensive mineralogical and geochemical determinations, were carried out to identify cause of this slaking behaviour. Key techniques were the use of quantitative X-ray diffractometry for mineralogical analysis, and the determination of slake durability index and related properties to evaluate the slaking behaviour under both standard and more extended conditions. Standard (two cycle) slake durability test results indicate a range from low to high slake durability index values, with some mudstone samples having very low durability and some sandstones having very high slake durability indices. Jar slake test results indicate that the rock samples break rapidly and/or develop several fractures (Ij = 4) in an as-received state, but degrade to a pile of flakes or mud (Ij = 1) if the samples are oven dried before testing. The results for jar slake testing of oven-dried material are comparable, for individual samples, to those obtained from the more comprehensive slake durability tests. The mineralogy of the samples was evaluated by quantitative X-ray diffraction techniques using the Rietveld-based Siroquant processing system. Comparison to independent chemical data show a generally good level of agreement, suggesting that the mineralogical analysis results are consistent with the chemical composition of the individual rock samples. Good correlations were also obtained between clay mineralogy determined from orientedaggregate XRD analysis of the <2 micron fraction and the results from powder diffractometry and Siroquant analysis of the whole-rock samples. Evaluation of the slake durability characteristics and other geotechnical properties in relation to the quantitative mineralogy suggests that quartz and feldspar form a rigid framework in the rocks that resists the disruptive pressures that cause slaking. Expansion of the clay minerals by various processes, including the incorporation of water into the interlayer spaces of illite/smectite as well as changes in pore pressures associated with entry of water into micro-fractures in the clay matrix, are thought to produce the disruptions that cause slaking and degradation. An abundant clay matrix also reduces the strength of the rock materials, probably because of the less rigid nature of the clay minerals relative to the quartz and feldspar particles. As well as the mineralogy, the loss on ignition (LOI) and water absorption percentage were found to provide good indicators of longer-term slaking behaviour. Both properties are also related to the overall clay content. Rock samples with water absorption values of <10, 10-15 and >15% behave as highly durable, intermediate and less durable materials respectively. Rocks with LOI values of greater than 5% by weight behave as less durable rock materials, at least for the strata encompassed by the present study. The water absorption and LOI values were also used to develop a predictive model of slake durability characteristics for the different rock materials in the Patonga Claystone, providing a relatively simple basis for predicting longer-term stability in a range of geotechnical studies.

In the early part of the 21st century, decisions not to defend parts of the coastline of England and Wales, with homes expected to be lost uncompensated, were contentious. Academic literature encourages further consideration of how people in such locations organise themselves to influence policy, and the function of social class in this regard. This study suggests that there are limits to the influence that can be exerted on policy in this way, and that larger, better resourced and better-socially-connected communities are more inclined and able to organise as effective action groups. However, limits to influence are also due to deliberative structures and processes that can marginalise local concerns and representations. The subject is approached through literature review and three case studies of policy setting and collective action - two at local level, for purposes of comparison, and one of a national lobby group and its engagement with central government. At local level, differences in approaches taken to the formation of coalitions with institutions and other groups are particularly evident. Sustained collective action can result in influence; however, local concerns are not always articulated publicly, and do not always result in collective action. The business of grassroots action falls typically to very few people with significant costs for them, and such arrangements can feed official concerns around representative legitimacy. Overall, coastal planning exercises do not appear to satisfy the main tenet of 'localism' - that citizens should be given power over decisions that affect them. Many coastal communities may require support in order to participate effectively, and policy owners must avoid privileging the preferences of the ‘usual suspects’. This may not be sufficient, however, given contention over the orthodoxy that losses resulting from decisions not to defend are borne significantly by individuals.

Arsenic (As) in groundwater systems is a problem in many parts of the world owing to ever-increasing extraction of groundwater resources to meet the needs of growing populations. Surprisingly, the occurrence of elevated As concentrations in coastal sandy aquifers has only recently been published as a result of this research. Sandy aquifers are commonly used as a clean and reliable source of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs due to their high recharge rates and the filtering capacity of sands. Water quality monitoring in Australian sandy aquifers is usually limited to a small suite of major elements and salinity measurements to determine the quality of groundwater and to identify any potential problems from seawater intrusion as a result of over extraction. Minor and trace elements, particularly toxic elements, have largely been ignored in regular monitoring programs. Prompted by an emerging pattern of human health problems in a community reliant on groundwater, hydrogeochemical investigations of the Stuarts Point coastal sand aquifer, on the North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, identified elevated As concentrations of up to 337 ????g/L in the catchment's Pleistocene barrier sands. These concentrations are well in excess of the World Health Organisation and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council water quality criteria of 10 and 7 ????g/L respectively. From research into the Stuarts Point geology, geochemistry, geomorphology, hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry, and with the assistance of environmental isotopes, the spatial distribution, occurrence and mobilisation processes of As were determined. The presence and distribution of elevated As concentrations in the regional coastal aquifer system are sporadic and involve a series of complex hydrogeochemical processes. No single hydrogeochemical process can describe the release of As from solid phase to groundwater system on the regional scale. Processes of competitive exchange with PO43- and HCO3-, reductive dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxides and arsenical pyrite oxidation, though not forming dominant correlations, are still evident and influence As chemistry at this scale. Detailed investigations of the hydrogeochemistry on the vertical scale have identified two main processes as causing As to be released and mobilised. The first process is associated with the oxidation of arsenical pyrite in Acid Sulphate Soils and metal hydrolysis reactions which mobilise As in the acidic environment. In the absence of dissolved oxygen (DO), NO3- acts as the oxyanion facilitating arsenical pyrite oxidation and releasing As into solution. The second process that mobilises As from the sediments is the liberation of As from metal-oxyhydroxides in the carbon-rich environment, where HCO3- originates from the dissolution of shell material in the Pleistocene barrier sands. The marine influenced depositional history and geomorphology of the aquifer provide opportunities for As to become incorporated into the aquifers matrix in a variety of mineral forms, which is an occurrence not considered to be unique to the Stuarts Point catchment. The findings presented here are amongst the first detailed studies of naturally occurring As in an Australian groundwater system as well as in the Pleistocene coastal sand aquifer environment. The understanding of As accumulation and mobilisation identified as a result of this research emphasises the need for potential As occurrences in similar groundwater systems in other coastal environments in Australia, and globally, to be considered.

The existence of indigenous slavery in the Gold Coast’s British settlements and the Fante wives of British officials were inconvenient truths of mid-nineteenth century Cape Coast. As such, they were marginalised within contemporary documents in favour of heroic narratives of thwarting the efforts of pirate slavers and outlawing the custom of human sacrifice. However, evidence reached London in 1839 that forced the British government to respond to rumours that merchants tasked to enforce British law were continuing to aid the slave trade. In 1841 Dr Madden was sent to the Gold Coast as Commissioner of Inquiry to investigate the claims. He found merchant magistrates engaging in domestic slavery and wrote a report to expose them in the hope of bringing about its abolition. In the absence of sufficient documentary evidence and with the aim of offering a voice to the marginalised historical residents of Cape Coast’s Anglo-Fante households, an interdisciplinary approach incorporating literary, historical and anthropological research has been developed. Previously undocumented family histories have been recorded and interpreted in the context provided by historiography, archival documents and literary works including plays, poetry, novels, and nineteenth-century memoirs. Having critically evaluated these sources in terms of the authorial motive, verifiable data and historical instability that are identifiable within oral and written memory, the accumulated evidence is employed to create an imaginative representation of Madden’s time on the Gold Coast. Within the narrative Madden visits the Fante wives of British officials - collectively referred to as the Principal Mulatto Females of the Gold Coast - to explore the existence of domestic slavery. This creative piece forms part of a wider historical and theoretical consideration of a slave-holding community that is publicly forgotten and privately remembered in Cape Coast society, and of the function of memory within the relationship between history and literature.

The following research project was a comparative study of teachers in Support Units and teachers in Special Schools. They were teachers currently involved with the implementation of the 1989 NSW Department of Education Mandatory Curriculum Change for the education of students with severe intellectual disability. The purpose of the research was to present a comparative study on teachers' responses, in both educational settings, examining their understanding of the curriculum change, the concerns of individuals and the levels of curriculum usage in relation to the factors affecting implementation. The application of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model of Change (Hall and Loucks, 1987), enabled the study to focus on the various forms of the innovation, including the innovation configuration, stages of concern, and the levels of use from the two given perspectives, teachers in Support Units and teachers in Special Schools, in relation to the major factors affecting implementation. The study findings highlighted that in both educational settings, change is accomplished by individuals and is a highly personal experience, demanding adequate support by facilitators of the change through appropriate actions, in order to assist effective and successful implementation of the change.

This thesis examines the widespread moisture problems which emerged over the past twenty years in buildings throughout coastal British Columbia, commonly known as ‘leaky condos’. A literature review of building physics and a historical review of wood-frame construction in North America provide background for this review. The purpose of this work is to report and interpret the performance of rainscreen walls in the coastal climate of Vancouver BC, based on extensive field data from five local buildings constructed or rehabilitated with rainscreen wall assemblies. Hygrothermal data was collected within exterior walls, and corresponding environmental data was recorded for each building. Driving rain loads at the five buildings across the city are calculated and compared to Vancouver airport data. Site factors are shown to have a significant impact on driving rain load, wind speed and direction. The WUFI 4.1 hygrothermal model was compared with the field data collected and found to be accurate at predicting past performance. Applying this validated model to each wall assembly, further simulations were performed to determine the impact of boundary conditions and assembly details on wall performance. Field measurements and modeling show that ventilated and drained claddings (i.e. rainscreen) reduce the sensitivity of wood frame buildings to moisture damage. Ventilation of the cladding is shown to be particularly important and natural buoyancy forces (from temperature and humidity differences between cavity and exterior) are usually sufficient to provide good drying. Exterior insulation is shown to further improve rainscreen wall performance by increasing the drying potential of the sheathing to both the exterior and interior. Additional work performed included material testing of fiberglass-faced gypsum sheathing and air-leakage testing of individual suites in the monitored buildings. Elevated interior humidity, resulting from inadequate ventilation, is shown to be exacerbated by inter-zonal air-flow in multi-unit residential buildings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Australian Catholic University, 2002.
A thesis submitted in total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references (305-329). Also available in an electronic version via the internet.

This thesis examines community structure of cliff-top coastal heathlands in Botany Bay National Park, Sydney. Community properties of floristic composition, structure and species richness are investigated. This investigation is made in order to assess the justification for contemporary pre-emphasis in local studies on individual community properties. It is also made in order to assess the relative and independent contributions of individual properties to variance in overall community structure. It is also made in order to assess the relative utility of multi-property classifications in summarising community structure of cliff-top coastal heathlands. First, the presence of determinable structure in each property is assessed through multivariate classification of respective data sets. Secondly, a new model of community structure is developed in which the hypothesis that community structure is a function of common (shared) and independent (unique) variance in each of the three properties is assessed. This is achieved through application of variance partitioning using correspondence analysis techniques. Thirdly, a matrix combining variance in all three properties is classified. This classification is compared with those of individual properties in order to assess the hypothesis that more ecologically cohesive classifications than those of single properties are obtainable. The ecological significance (environmental relativity) of all classifications and variance components is assessed through examination of relationships with variance in 20 environmental factors which encompass variation in maritime factors, soil physical factors, soil nutrition factors and effects of time since fire. Classifications of individual properties showed the presence of determinable structure in each. Eleven floristic complexes, nine structural complexes and eighteen species richness complexes were recognised. Nineteen community complexes were recognised from the classification of the combined property matrix. All complexes were shown to differ significantly with respect to multiple environmental factors. Variance partitioning showed the presence of both independent and common variance components with respect to properties compared pairwise. These were all shown to differ in magnitude. Examination of environmental correlates showed ecological differentiation of all properties and most variance components. Maritime and fire factors provide a major axis of environmental differentiation for most properties and variance components. A second major axis was resolved with respect to physical soil factors. With the exception of variance in species richness, major soil nutrients were generally of secondary importance to community structure. Low soil nutrients may demarcate heathlands from other vegetation types. However, this study shows elevated importance of other major areas of environment for community structure within cliff-top coastal heathlands. Comparisons of environmental homogeneity characteristics between all classification systems showed the classification of the combined property matrix to be more ecologically robust than those of structure or species richness. Homogeneity characteristics of the combined classification remained statistically inseparable from that of floristic composition. However, studies provided some evidence suggesting greater robustness of the combined classification with regard to fine-scale variance in community structure. This thesis shows that variance in all major community properties of the studied vegetation to be of ecological significance. It also shows that this significance is differential with respect to properties and their variance components. Pre-emphasis on individual properties in syntheses of local systems thus involves the loss of ecological information. I thus conclude that if adequate ecological syntheses of cliff-top coastal heathlands are to be obtained which are appropriate to their scale of distribution and functioning in the Sydney area then inclusion of attributes of multiple properties is required. Equally, multiple sources of environmental variation need to be examined.

The cycling of biogenic volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) within marine and terrestrial ecosystems has been shown to play an integral role in atmospheric chemistry; by influencing global climate change through the creation of cloud condensation nuclei and controlling acid-base chemistry; as well as influencing sediment chemistry including the interactions with trace metals, particularly regarding iron sulfide formation. Despite this, the examination of VSCs within Australian coastal acid sulfate soils (ASS) is an unexplored area of research. As ASS in Australia occupy an area in excess of 9 M ha, there is a clear need for a greater understanding of the cycling of these compounds within such systems. This thesis looks at the concentrations of several VSCs within agricultural and undisturbed ASS on the east coast of Australia. Initial measurements of sulfur dioxide (SO2) were made using passive diffusion samplers, which were followed by two detailed field-based studies looking at the concentrations and fluxes of both SO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) using flux-gradient micrometeorological techniques. These novel results indicated that this agricultural ASS was a substantial source of atmospheric H2S (0.036-0.056 gSm-2yr-1), and SO2 (0.095-0.31 gSm-2yr-1), with flux values equating to many other salt- and freshwater marshes and swamps. The flux data also suggested that the ASS could be a continual source of H2S which is photo-oxidised during the daytime to SO2. Measurements of both compounds showed separate, inverse correlations to temperature and moisture meteorological parameters indicating possible contributing and / or causal release factors. Further identification of these and other VSCs within ASS samplers was undertaken in the laboratory using gas chromatography in combination with solid-phase microextraction. Although SO2 and H2S were not discovered within the headspace samples, two other VSCs important in atmospheric sulfur cycling and trace metal geochemistry were quantified; dimethylsulfide (DMS; > 300??g/L) and ethanethiol (ESH > 4??g/L). The measurements of H2S, DMS and ESH are the first quantifications with Australian ASS, and they may be important for refining regional or local atmospheric sulfur budgets, as well as interpreting previous SO2 emissions from ASS. Ultimately this thesis further enhances our understanding of the cycling of VSCs within acid sulfate systems.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The study of place was often divided between the spatial interests of geographers and local historians intent on constructing heroic lineages. In the period of accelerated globalization however, discrete discourses on time and space are no longer tenable. Histories of place engage the transdisciplinary approach of recent scholarship in understanding the complexities and fluidity of the world in which we live. Places are constructed out of the enmeshing of the material, social and cultural. The reasons why people migrate both within and to particular places are also critical to the ongoing perceptions of that place, and the dynamics by which local communities operate within global networks. This thesis is an historical study of a recent sewage ocean outfall dispute between residents and the local council at Emerald Beach, in the Coffs Harbour region of New South Wales' Mid-North Coast. Alongside documentary sources, it uses oral testimony to examine the factors that contributed to people's understanding of their place, and the processes that resulted in the public contestation over that place. It argues that the positions taken in the sewage dispute cannot simply be perceived as a function of individual residents' responses within a bounded local context, but were a result of the complex processes of internal migration to the region since colonisation, and especially since the 1970s, that brought competing visions for the same place. In exploring the historical traces of the dispute, the thesis examines the first wave of non-Aboriginal migration to the coastal hinterland before turning attention to the second intensive wave of migration in the postwar period. Attention shifted away from the hinterland to the coast, and the chapters examine competing uses for the coast as local born residents, tourists and the influx of new settlers from the 1970s brought diverse dreams for the warm North Coast. In particular, the sewage conflict that grew into the direct-action protests at Emerald Beach provides clear insights into the flows of migration and settlement that led to the particular mix of people who fought for their divergent conceptions of place as critical to their lifestyle and residency. Without examining historical representations of places and events, conflict situations such as the sewage dispute at Emerald Beach cannot be fully illuminated. By demonstrating the force of internal migration on perceptions of, and contestation within place, this thesis provides one framework from which other places might be investigated.

Διερευνώνται επιμέρους θέματα διαχείρισης παράκτιων υδροφορέων που αφορούν στην διασφάλιση της αειφορίας των υπόγειων αποθεμάτων μέσω (α) της προστασία τους έναντι στην υποβάθμιση της ποιότητάς τους που μπορεί να προέλθει από τη διείσδυση του θαλασσινού νερού και από ανθρωπογενείς δραστηριότητες και (β) της διασφάλισης της κάλυψης των αναγκών σε υπόγειο νερό κατά τις περιόδους αυξημένης ζήτησης. Η διερεύνηση βασίζεται στη χρήση δύο αριθμητικών μοντέλων υπόγειας ροής που λαμβάνουν υπόψη τις διαφορές πυκνότητας μεταξύ γλυκού και αλμυρού νερού και περιλαμβάνει τα ακόλουθα: Παρουσιάζεται ο τρόπος με τον οποίο διατυπώνονται και επιλύονται οι εξισώσεις που περιγράφουν την υπόγεια ροή υπό την επιρροή διαφορών πυκνότητας σε δύο ευρέως χρησιμοποιούμενα αριθμητικά μοντέλα, που είναι το μοντέλο SEAWAT-2000 (Langevin et al., 2003) και το μοντέλο SUTRA v2.2 (Voss & Provost, 2010). Βάσει των ανωτέρω και της εμπειρίας που αποκτήθηκε από την παράλληλη εφαρμογή τους, οι δύο κώδικες αξιολογούνται συγκριτικά και διατυπώνονται κριτήρια, στα οποία μπορεί να βασιστεί η επιλογή του κατά περίπτωση προσφορότερου κώδικα. Γίνεται η ρύθμιση αριθμητικού μοντέλου, το οποίο είναι βασισμένο στον κώδικα SEAWAT-2000, για τον παράκτιο υδροφορέα του Γλαύκου π., ο οποίος βρίσκεται στα νότια της πόλης των Πατρών και αποτελεί σημαντικό υδατικό πόρο για την περιοχή. Η ρύθμιση του μοντέλου βασίζεται σε μετρήσεις της υπόγειας στάθμης που προέρχονται από ένα σχετικά πυκνό δίκτυο γεωτρήσεων παρατήρησης το οποίο όμως έχει χρονικά περιορισμένη διάρκεια λειτουργίας. Το δίκτυο κατασκευάστηκε στα πλαίσια του προγράμματος INTERREG Ελλάδα – Ιταλία, 2000 – 2006, σε συνεργασία του Εργαστηρίου Υδραυλικής Μηχανικής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών και της Δημοτικής Επιχείρησης Ύδρευσης και Αποχέτευσης της Πάτρας (Δ.Ε.Υ.Α.Π.) και ολοκληρώθηκε στα μέσα του 2008. Η διαδικασία ρύθμισης του μοντέλου περιλαμβάνει τα εξής: (α) Τη συστηματική οργάνωση, συνδυασμό και αξιολόγηση των διαθέσιμων πληροφοριών σε λογισμικό συστημάτων γεωγραφικών πληροφοριών. (β) Την εφαρμογή υδραυλικών και στατιστικών μεθόδων σε συνδυασμό με την τροποποίηση και εφαρμογή μεθόδων αριθμητικής προσομοίωσης αντλητικών δοκιμών για τον προσδιορισμό των υδραυλικών χαρακτηριστικών του υδροφορέα. (γ) Τη συνδυαστική ανάλυση υδρολογικών δεδομένων και χρονοσειρών της υπόγειας στάθμης για την εκτίμηση των συνιστωσών του υδρολογικού ισοζυγίου. (δ) Τον καθορισμό κατάλληλων κριτηρίων αξιολόγησης των προσομοιώσεων. (ε) Την εμπειρική ρύθμιση των παραμέτρων του μοντέλου, η οποία επειδή έγινε παράλληλα με την συλλογή των μετρήσεων της υπόγειας στάθμης πραγματοποιήθηκε για δύο περιόδους, κατ’ αρχήν για την περίοδο 2008-2010 και εν συνεχεία για την περίοδο 2010-2012 και (στ) την εκτέλεση προσομοιώσεων Monte Carlo για την πραγματοποίηση καθολικής ανάλυσης ευαισθησίας (global sensitivity analysis, βλ. Saltelli et al., 2004) και τη διερεύνηση ύπαρξης περισσοτέρων συνδυασμών των τιμών των παραμέτρων του μοντέλου που οδηγούν σε παρόμοια αποτελέσματα (equifinality thesis, Beven, 2006). Από τη ρύθμιση του μοντέλου με τη βοήθεια των μετρήσεων της υπόγειας στάθμης που συλλέχτηκαν με το δίκτυο παρατήρησης προέκυψαν πληροφορίες για τους μηχανισμούς εμπλουτισμού του υδροφορέα στις διάφορες περιοχές, κάτι που είναι σημαντικό για τη διαχείρισή του. Το ρυθμισμένο μοντέλο του παράκτιου υδροφορέα του Γλαύκου χρησιμοποιήθηκε για την εξέταση θεμάτων διαχείρισης του υδροφορέα: (α) Προσδιορίστηκαν οι ζώνες τροφοδοσίας των γεωτρήσεων της ΔΕΥΑΠ με χρήση του κώδικα MODPATH v3 (Pollock, 1994) και εκτιμήθηκε η τρωτότητα αυτών των γεωτρήσεων. Διαπιστώθηκε ότι οι γεωτρήσεις που βρίσκονται κοντά στην κοίτη του Γλαύκου, όπως συμβαίνει με πολλές από τις γεωτρήσεις της ΔΕΥΑΠ, αντλούν σχεδόν αποκλειστικά νερό που προέρχεται από τον ποταμό. Έτσι είναι δυνατόν να προσβληθούν από ρυπάνσεις του νερού του ποταμού καθώς επίσης και από ανθρωπογενείς δραστηριότητες στις παρόχθιες ζώνες. (β) Εκτιμήθηκε ο κίνδυνος διείσδυσης θαλασσινού νερού σε περίπτωση εμφάνισης περιόδων ξηρασίας, για δύο διαφορετικά σενάρια αντλήσεων: ένα σύμφωνα με το σημερινό καθεστώς χρήσης του υπόγειου νερού και ένα για την αύξηση των αντλήσεων κατά 50%. Διαπιστώθηκε ότι για ξηρασία διάρκειας τεσσάρων ετών και αύξηση των αντλούμενων ποσοτήτων τα φαινόμενα υφαλμύρισης θα είναι έντονα. Με την επάνοδο όμως των μέσων υδρολογικών συνθηκών ο υδροφορέας ανακάμπτει. (γ) Για συνθήκες ξηρασίας εξετάστηκε η αποτελεσματικότητα του τεχνητού εμπλουτισμού για τον περιορισμό της διείσδυσης του θαλασσινού νερού. Ως μέθοδος εμπλουτισμού εξετάστηκε η εποχιακή αύξηση της στάθμης του νερού στον ποταμό με τη βοήθεια φουσκωτών φραγμάτων (βλ. Κωτσοβίνος, 1999). Διαπιστώθηκε ότι με τη μέθοδο αυτή μπορεί να επιτευχθεί σημαντική αύξηση των υπόγειων αποθεμάτων. Τέλος, εξετάζεται ως μέτρο προστασίας έναντι της διείσδυσης του θαλασσινού νερού η τεχνική των υπόγειων φραγμών. Επειδή στις μελέτες της τεχνικής αυτής που έχουν παρουσιαστεί στη βιβλιογραφία (π.χ. Luyun et al., 2011) έμφαση δίνεται μόνο στην επιρροή των γεωμετρικών χαρακτηριστικών των φραγμών (απόσταση από την ακτή, βάθος φραγμού), έγινε στην παρούσα εργασία συστηματική διερεύνηση της συναρτησιακής σχέσης ανάμεσα στην αποτελεσματικότητα της μεθόδου και τα χαρακτηριστικά τόσο των φραγμών όσο και του υδροφορέα (υδραυλική αγωγιμότητα, ανισοτροπία, υδρομηχανική διασπορά, παροχή γλυκού νερού προς τη θάλασσα, αντλήσεις στην παράκτια ζώνη, υλικό κατασκευής του φραγμού). Η διερεύνηση έγινε με τη βοήθεια του αριθμητικού μοντέλου SUTRA 2.2 (Voss and Provost, 2010), για δύο τύπους υπόγειων φραγμών: τους διαφραγματικούς τοίχους και τα υπόγεια φράγματα. Δίδονται διαγράμματα και αναλυτικές σχέσεις με χρήση αδιάστατων μεταβλητών και για εύρος τιμών των μεταβλητών αυτών που μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν για τη διαστασιολόγηση φραγμών σε εφαρμογές πεδίου. Βάσει των αποτελεσμάτων που προκύπτουν από τη διερεύνηση της προαναφερθείσας συναρτησιακής σχέσης και χρησιμοποιώντας και το μοντέλο του Γλαύκου, εξετάστηκε η αποτελεσματικότητα της κατασκευής ενός φραγμού περιορισμένου μήκους στον υδροφορέα. Διαπιστώθηκε ότι πέραν του περιορισμού της διείσδυσης αλμυρού νερού σε περιόδους ξηρασίας που επιτυγχάνεται, ο φραγμός επιταχύνει την υποχώρηση της αλμυρής σφήνας όταν επανέλθουν οι συνήθεις υδρολογικές συνθήκες.
In the present study coastal aquifer management issues are investigated. These issues concern measures which ensure the sustainability of the coastal groundwater and particularly: (a) protective measures against the degradation of groundwater caused by saltwater intrusion and human activities and (b) measures allowing the availability of sufficient volumes of fresh groundwater during periods of high demand. The investigation is based on the application of two numerical codes, which are suitable for simulating the groundwater flow under the influence of density differences. The investigation procedure is as follows. The application of the equations of groundwater flow with density differences and transport, the limitations and the advantages are presented for two widely used numerical models, the SEAWAT-2000 code (Langevin et al., 2003) and the SUTRA v.2.2 code (Voss & Provost, 2010). Based on the analysis above and on the experience acquired through the parallel use of the two codes, basic criteria are derived that allow for the selection of the code that best suits the needs of a certain problem. The investigation focuses on the Glafkos coastal aquifer, which is located at north Peloponnese (Greece), south of the city of Patras and is an important source of freshwater for the region. For this aquifer the SEAWAT-2000 code is implemented and calibrated. The model calibration is based on groundwater level time series that were registered by a relatively dense monitoring network, whose operation time, however, is limited. The network of the monitoring wells was constructed during 2007-2008 in cooperation of the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras) and the Municipal Enterprise of Water Supply and Sewage of Patras (DEYAP), in the frame of the project INTERREG IIIA GREECE-ITALY. The calibration procedure is based on: (a) The application of a G.I.S. system to organize, combine, analyse and evaluate the available information. (b) The application of hydraulic and statistical methods combined with the modification and application of pumping tests simulation methods, for the estimation of the hydraulic parameters of the coastal aquifer. (c) The combined analysis of hydrological data and groundwater level time series for the estimation of the aquifers water budget components. (d) The establishment of appropriate criteria for the evaluation of simulation results. (e) The empirical calibration of the model is performed for two periods, i.e. the period 2008-2010 and the period 2010-2012. This procedure is due to the availability of the groundwater level time series which were registered parallel to the model calibration. (f) The application of the Monte-Carlo method in order to investigate the probability that different combinations of model parameters give similar or better simulation results. The model calibration led to a better understanding of the aquifers recharge mechanisms which is crucial for the development of a groundwater management policy and the implementation of a management plan. The calibrated groundwater model of the Glafkos coastal aquifer is used for the investigation and evaluation of coastal aquifer management applications: (a) The capture zones of the municipal production wells are delineated by applying the MODPATH v3 code (Pollock, 1994). It is found out that the production wells that are located close to the Glafkos River, as it is the fact for the majority of the municipal production wells, pump water that originates almost exclusively from the river. Consequently, polluted water from the river or polluting human activities close to the riverbank can affect the quality of the pumped water. (b) The saltwater intrusion risk is estimated, in case of a prolonged drought period. Two cases are investigated; the first considers the current pumping rates of groundwater while the second considers a 50% increased pumping. It is found out that a four-year drought period combined with an increase of the groundwater exploitation will lead to significant saltwater intrusion problems. (c) The applicability and effectiveness of in-channel artificial recharge with the use of rubber dams, as a countermeasure against the saltwater intrusion, which may be induced by a four-year drought period, is investigated. It is found that the method is applicable and effectively reduces the intrusion of saltwater. Further it increases the groundwater storage in the aquifer. Finally, the construction of a cutoff wall which covers only a small part of the aquifers width, is evaluated as a countermeasure to saltwater intrusion problems which may arise in Glafkos coastal aquifer. Due to the fact that existing studies on the technique of the subsurface barriers focus only on the influence of the geometrical characteristics of barriers covering the whole width of the aquifer, a systematic investigation is curried out on the functional relationship between the effectiveness of the barriers and all the parameters influencing it, i.e. the geometrical characteristics of the barriers, the aquifer parameters (the hydraulic conductivity, anisotropy, hydromechanical dispersion, groundwater flow towards the sea) and the pumping rate. The investigation is curried out by the use of the finite element code SUTRA v.2.2 and concerns two types of barriers; the subsurface dams and the cutoff walls. The results include graphs and functional relationships for the assessment of the effect of subsurface dams and cutoff walls and the design of such structures. The results are presented in terms of dimensionless variables, with ranges suitable for field applications. Based on these results, a cutoff wall of small width is designed for the Glafkos coastal aquifer. Its effectiveness is evaluated by applying the calibrated SEAWAT-model of the coastal aquifer. It is shown that the cutoff wall not only reduces the saltwater intrusion during drought periods, but also it reduces the retreat time of the saltwater front under normal hydrological conditions.