Coastal geomorphology and management
Associate Professor Jim Peterson
4 points * 3 hours per week on average (2 lectures and 1 lecture and 3-hour practical in alternate weeks) * Second semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: As for GES2130
Objectives On completion of this subject the student should have read the relevant texts and research literature and analysed some of them well enough to be able to frame documented arguments; be able to identify coastal landforms in the field on vertical air photographs and on topographic and thematic maps; be able to show how explanations for the origin of these landforms can be derived from analysis of relevant distribution patterns, morphologies, internal constitution, and evidence about the nature of weathering and pedogenesis; be able to identify the scope for dating the landforms and for applying this, and knowledge about landform origin and distribution, to landscape interpretation in terms of evolution, future development and the nature of environmental change; be able to apply knowledge derived from landform study to management problems, including mitigation of land degradation and the assembly of environmental impact statements; outline present and predictable challenges faced by coastal land managers; outline the nature of the regulatory environment in which CZM operates in Australia with special reference to Victoria.
Synopsis Coastal changes since the end of the last glacial stage have been great and much interest centres on the nature of environmental stability and the relative role of catastrophic events, natural change and fluctuation, and of economic development in determining the pattern of geographical variation in coastal landform evolution. Studies of such topics lead to an assessment of the importance of an understanding of the nature of environmental stability to modern resources management in the coastal zone.
Assessment Written (1500 words): 20% * Examinations (2 hours): 50% * Practical work/Fieldwork: 30%
Prescribed texts
Bird E C F Coasts 3rd edn, ANU Press, 1984
or
Viles H and Spencer T Coastal problems Edward Arnold, 1995
Recommended texts
Bird E C F Coastline changes: A global review Wiley, 1985
Bird E C F The coasts of Victoria MUP, 1993
Bird E C F Submerging coasts Wiley, 1993
Carter R W E Coastal environments Academic Press, 1988
Davies J L Geographical variation in coastal development Longman, 1980
Thom B G (ed.) Coastal geomorphology in Australia Academic Press, 1985
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