Feeling a little Blue? : Boofheads, bodies, and beaches

Pat Grant’s graphic novel Blue (2012) tells two stories about the impact of a newly migrant group on a small coastal Australian town. The wider story explores the wholesale effects of a previously unknown population joining an existing, culturally homogenous community. These broad social images are used to contextualise the more immediate story of three youths who are disenfranchised within the pre-existing community, but who can claim social enfranchisement by alienating the new members of the community. That the migrant population is depicted literally as aliens emphasises Blue’s participation in a wider conversation about citizenship and empathy. However, Blue does not necessarily seek to provoke a particular emotional response in its readers. Rather, in following three characters who lack what Nussbaum calls “narrative imagination” in their pursuit of good surfing or visceral entertainment—of beaches or bodies—Blue explores the means and consequences of refusing intersubjective affect. This is most powerfully rendered by the main characters’ ultimate avoidance of, and fictions about, a dead body they have wagged school to see. At the very moment of a person becoming a true object—a corpse—the meaning of objectifying people is revealed; the young protagonists seem to recognise this fact, and thus retreat from the affective scene which nonetheless informs Blue as a whole.

How many fake Sandy pictures were really shared on social media?

Many dramatic images of hurricane Sandy hitting the east coast of the US have been captured but which have been tweeted the most and which are real?

Keeping international visitors safe on Australian beaches : informing the content of surf safety messages

In Australia, international tourists/visitors are one of the highest risk groups for drowning at beaches. Swimming in patrolled areas, between the flags, reduces the risk of drowning with most drownings occuring outside these areas. There is a need to understand beliefs which influence the extent to which international tourists/visitors intend to swim between the flags. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and, in particular, the indirect beliefs which underpin constructs in the model, represent a means of determining what factors influence this intention. The current study compared international visitors/tourists as having either low or high intentions to swim between the flags on a range of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs. A series of MANOVAs revealed significant differences between the groups in all three of the beliefs. The findings provide insight into potential foci for message content for use in educational campaigns aimed at keeping international visitors safe on Australian beaches.

Patterned fen formation and development from the Great Sandy Region, south-east Queensland, Australia

The Great Sandy Region (incorporating Fraser Island and the Cooloola sand-mass), south-east Queensland, contains a significant area of Ramsar-listed coastal wetlands, including the globally important patterned fen complexes. These mires form an elaborate network of pools surrounded by vegetated peat ridges and are the only known subtropical, Southern Hemisphere examples, with wetlands of this type typically located in high northern latitudes. Sedimentological, palynological and charcoal analysis from the Wathumba and Moon Point complexes on Fraser Island indicate two periods of swamp formation (that may contain patterned fens), one commencing at 12 000 years ago (Moon Point) and the other ~4300 years ago (Wathumba). Wetland formation and development is thought to be related to a combination of biological and hydrological processes with the dominant peat-forming rush, Empodisma minus, being an important component of both patterned and non-patterned mires within the region. In contrast to Northern Hemisphere paludifying systems, the patterning appears to initiate at the start of wetland development or as part of an infilling process. The wetlands dominated by E. minus are highly resilient to disturbance, particularly burning and sea level alterations, and appear to form important refuge areas for amphibians, fish and birds (both non-migratory and migratory) over thousands of years.

Comparison of compost and a sandy loam as turf underlay materials on salt-affected parkland

Turfgrasses range from extremely salt sensitive to highly salt tolerant. However, the selection of a salt tolerant turf is not a 'silver bullet' solution to successful turf growth on salt-affected parklands. Interactions between factors such as cultivar, construction practices, establishment, and maintenance can be complex and should not be considered in isolation of one another. Taking this holistic approach, a study investigating cultivar evaluation for salt-affected sites also included a comparison of topsoil materials as turf underlay, as well as pre-treatment of the sod. The turf species and cultivars used in the study were: Cynodon dactylon, cultivar 'Oz Tuff (I) '; Paspalum vaginatum, cultivars 'Sea Isle 1 (I) ' and 'Velvetene (I) '; Zoysia matrella cultivar 'A-1 (I) '; and Zoysia japonica, cultivar 'Empire (I) '. The two underlay materials were compost (100%) or a sandy clay topsoil each applied above a coastal sand profile to a depth of 10 cm. Rooting depth or root dry weight did not significantly differ among turf cultivars. Compost profile treatment had significantly greater root mass than the topsoil among all turf cultivars. This higher root production was reflected by improved quality of all turf at the final evaluation. Turfgrass grown on compost had a higher normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), regardless of whether full sod or bare-rooted turfgrass was used. The use of a quality underlay was paramount to the successful growth of the turf cultivars investigated. While each cultivar had superior performance in sub-optimal conditions, the key to success was the selection of the right species and cultivar for each situation combined with proper establishment and maintenance of each turf grass.

Optimum design of cantilever sheet pile walls in sandy soils using inverse reliability approach

In this paper an approach for obtaining depth and section modulus of the cantilever sheet pile wall using inverse reliability method is described. The proposed procedure employs inverse first order reliability method to obtain the design penetration depth and section modulus of the steel sheet pile wall in order that the reliability of the wall against failure modes must meet a desired level of safety. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the effect of uncertainties in design parameters on the reliability of cantilever sheet pile walls. The analysis is performed by treating back fill soil properties, depth of the water table from the top of the sheet pile wall, yield strength of steel and section modulus of steel pile as random variables. Two limit states, viz., rotational and flexural failure of sheet pile wall are considered. The results using this approach are used to develop a set of reliability based design charts for different coefficients of variation of friction angle of the backfill (5%, 10% and 15%). System reliability considerations in terms of series and parallel systems are also studied.

Water content variations of sandy soil under winter conditions

Yhteenveto: Maankosteusvaihtelut talvella hiekkamaassa

Effect of non-plastic fines on cyclic behaviour of sandy soils

This paper presents the results of the detailed studies on stress - controlled cyclic triaxial tests on sandy soils from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India subjected to a loading frequency of 0.1 Hz in cyclic triaxial equipment. Undrained stress controlled cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on cylindrical samples of size 50 mm diameter and height 100 mm with different cyclic stress ratios. Laboratory evaluations were carried out to compare the cyclic resistance of clean sand to that of sand with various fines contents at a constant gross void ratio. The gross void ratio considers the voids formed by sand particles and fines. The effects of gross void ratio with and without fines on pore water pressure build up and liquefaction potential of sandy soils in stress controlled tests are presented. The results obtained from this study provide direct evidence that the limiting silt content plays an important role in the cyclic resistance of sandy soils. Below the limiting silt content the cyclic resistance decreases until the limiting silt content is reached and then the cyclic resistance increases.

Experiments on interaction between current-induced vibration and scour of submarine pipelines on sandy bottom

In order to understand the dynamic behavior of submarine pipelines exposed to current and the mechanism of the interaction between current-induced vibration and scour of pipelines on a sandy bottom, an experimental investigation is conducted with a small scale model A test model which can be tested in the flume is set up by taking into account the typical working conditions of the pipelines and by applying the similarity theory. The interactions between the shape of the scour hole and the behavior of the pipeline as well as the flow patterns of the current are detailed, and the interaction mechanism outlined. The effect of vibration of the pipeline on the development of dynamic scour at different stages is found out. The proposed experimental method and test results provide an effective means for design of marine pipelines against scouring.

Improved Analysis Method for Wave-Induced Pipeline Stability on Sandy Seabed

The existing Det Norske Veritas DNV Recommended Practice RP E305 for pipeline on-bottom stability is mainly based on the pipe–soil interaction model reported by Wagner et al. in 1987, and the wake model reported by Lambrakos et al. in 1987, to calculate the soil resistance and the hydrodynamic forces upon pipeline, respectively. Unlike the methods in the DNV Practice, in this paper, an improved analysis method is proposed for the on-bottom stability of a submarine pipeline, which is based on the relationships between Um/ gD 0.5 and Ws / D2 for various restraint conditions obtained by the hydrodynamic loading experiments, taking into account the coupling effects between wave, pipeline, and sandy seabed. The analysis procedure is illustrated with a detailed flow chart. A comparison is made between the submerged weights of pipeline predicted with the DNV Practice and those with the new method. The proposed analysis method may provide a helpful tool for the engineering practice of pipeline on-bottom stability design.

Experimental Study Of Vortex-Induced Vibrations Of A Pipeline Near An Erodible Sandy Seabed

Based on similarity analyses, a series of experiments have been conducted with a newly established hydro-elastic facility to investigate the transverse vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of a submarine pipeline near an erodible sandy seabed under the influence of ocean currents. Typical characteristics of coupling processes between pipe vibration and soil scour in the currents have been summarized for Case 1: pipe is laid above seabed and Case 11: pipe is partially embedded in seabed on the basis of the experimental observations. Pipe vibration and the corresponding local scour are usually two coupled physical processes leading to an equilibrium state. The influence of initial gap-to-diameter ratio (e(0)/D) on the interaction between pipe vibration and local scour has been studied. Experimental results show that the critical values of V-r for the initiation of VIVs of the pipe near an erodible sand bed get bigger with decreasing initial gap-to-diameter ratio within the examined range of e(0)/D (-0.25 < e(0)/D < 0.75). The comparison of the pipe vibrations near an erodible soil with those near a rigid boundary and under wall-free conditions indicates that the vibration amplitudes of the pipe near an erodible sand bed are close to the curve fit under wall-free conditions; nevertheless, for the same stability parameter, the maximum amplitudes for the VIV coupled with local scour increase with the increase of initial gap-to-diameter ratio. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ocean currents-induced pipeline lateral stability on sandy seabed

Unlike previous mechanical actuator loading methods, in this study, a hydrodynamic loading method was employed in a flow flume for simulating ocean currents induced submarine pipeline stability on a sandy seabed. It has been observed that, in the process of pipeline losing lateral stability in currents, there usually exist three characteristic times: (1) onset of sand scour; (2) slight lateral displacement of pipeline; and (3) breakout of pipeline. An empirical linear relationship is established between the dimensionless submerged weight of pipeline and Froude number for describing pipeline lateral stability in currents, in which the current-pipe-soil coupling effects are reflected. Scale effects are examined with the method of "modeling of models," and the sand particle size effects on pipeline stability are also discussed. Moreover, the pipeline stability in currents is compared with that in waves, which indicates that the pipeline laid directly upon the sandy seabed is more laterally stable in currents than in waves.

Oscillatory Flow Induced Hydrodynamic Forces upon a Pipeline near Erosive Sandy Seabed

An experimental study of the properties of hydrodynamic forces upon a marine pipeline is presented in this paper, in the equilibrium scour conditions for various Keulegan-Carpenter numbers and various initial relative gaps between pipeline and the erosive sandy seabed. The tests are conducted in a U-shaped oscillatory water tunnel with a sand box located at the bottom of the test section. According to the experimental results, the maximum horizontal forces on the pipelines with an initial gap to seabed will decrease to some extent due to scouring process. For engineering appliances, it seems safer to estimate wave induced forces on pipelines under the assumption that seabed is plane. However, it should be noticed that great changes would be brought to the frequency properties of lift forces because of the sandy scour beneath the pipeline, which occurs for certain KC numbers.

Experimental Study of Pipeline Stability on Sandy Seabed under the Influence of Ocean Currents

Ocean-current-induced pipeline stability on sandy seabed was simulated physically in a flow flume. The process of pipeline losing onbottom stability in currents was recorded and analyzed. Experimental data show that, for a pipeline directly laid on sandy seabed, there exists a linear relationship between the dimensionless submerged weight of pipeline and Froude number, in which the current-pipe-soil coupling effects are reflected. The sand-particle size effects on pipeline onbottom stability are further discussed. The new established empirical relationship may provide a guide for the engineering practice of current-induced on-bottom stability design of a submarine pipeline.