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THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM THIS book results from an attempt to explain on a basis of experimental physics some of the many strange phenomena produced by the natural movement of sand over the dry land of the Earth. The subject is but one aspect of a far wider problem which is still very imperfectly grasped-the transport of solid particles of any kind by fluids in general. Here the difficulty has been, and still is, that no one branch of science has attempted to deal with the problem as a whole, or to co-ordinate the vast amount of piecemeal work by students of different outlook in many unrelated fields. The carriage of silt by rivers has received a great deal of attention from engineers. But owing to the difficulties of direct measurement, to the expense and labour of conducting full-scale experiments, and to a failure to find agreement as to the basic quantities upon which a theoretical edifice may be built, the published results are far from satisfactory. Little has emerged except empirical formulae; and these are rarely capable of reliable application to conditions other than those under which they were evolved. The drifting of snow is of direct interest to transport authorities in many countries, to meteorologists engaged in the study of rainfall, to ski-runners and to mountaineers. Yet no means has been found whereby the precipitation can be gauged, or the rate of drift related to the strength of the wind.
From endless sand dunes and prickly cacti to shimmering mirages and green oases, deserts evoke contradictory images in us. They are lands of desolation, but also of romance, of blistering Mojave heat and biting Gobi cold. Covering a quarter of the earth’s land mass and providing a home to half a billion people, they are both a physical reality and landscapes of the mind. The idea of the desert has long captured Western imagination, put on display in films and literature, but these portrayals often fail to capture the true scope and diversity of the people living there. Bridging the scientific and cultural gaps between perception and reality, The Desert celebrates our fascination with these arid lands and their inhabitants, as well as their importance both throughout history and in the world today. Covering an immense geographical range, Michael Welland wanders from the Sahara to the Atacama, depicting the often bizarre adaptations of plants and animals to these hostile environments. He also looks at these seemingly infertile landscapes in the context of their place in history—as the birthplaces not only of critical evolutionary adaptations, civilizations, and social progress, but also of ideologies. Telling the stories of the diverse peoples who call the desert home, he describes how people have survived there, their contributions to agricultural development, and their emphasis on water and its scarcity. He also delves into the allure of deserts and how they have been used in literature and film and their influence on fashion, art, and architecture. As Welland reveals, deserts may be difficult to define, but they play an active role in the evolution of our global climate and society at large, and their future is of the utmost importance. Entertaining, informative, and surprising, The Desert is an intriguing new look at these seemingly harsh and inhospitable landscapes.
R.A. Bagnold was a pioneer of desert exploration who is credited with making the first recorded east-west crossing of the Libyan Desert. 'Libyan Sands' is the story of a desert-loving young officer whose passionate amateur enthusiasm led to the exploration of the Egyptian western desert and the Libyan Sahara.
Based on four decades of research by Professor Andrew Goudie, this volume provides a state-of-the-art synthesis of our understanding of desert geomorphology. It presents a truly international perspective, with examples from all over the world. Extensively referenced and illustrated, it covers such topics as the importance of past climatic changes, the variability of different desert environments, rock breakdown, wind erosion and dust storm generation, sand dunes, fluvial and slope forms and processes, the role of the applied geomorphologist in desert development and conservation, and the Earth as an analogue for other planetary bodies. This book is destined to become the classic volume on arid and semi-arid geomorphology for advanced students and researchers in physical geography, geomorphology, Earth science, sedimentology, environmental science and archaeology.
This book deals with the development of temperate coastal sand dunes and the way these have been influenced by human activity. The different states in which the habitat exists both for the beach/foredune and inland dune are reviewed against the pressures exerted upon them. Options for management are considered and the likely consequences of taking a particular course of action highlighted. These options include traditional approaches to the conservation and management of wildlife and landscapes as well as habitat restoration. The way the value of the areas changes under different management regimes is considered mainly from an environmental perspective. Consideration is given to new approaches to management and restoration including adopting a more dynamic approach. Audience This book will be of interest to academics, students and professionals concerned with policy formulation and /or actively managing coastal areas.
Mechanics plays a fundamental role in aeolian processes and other environmental studies. This proposed book systematically presents the new progress in the research of aeolian processes, especially in the research on mechanism, theoretical modelling and computational simulation of aeolian processes from the viewpoint of mechanics. Nowadays, environmental and aeolian process related problems are attracting more and more attention. We hope this proposed book will provide scientists and graduate students in aeolian research and other environmental research some mechanical methods and principles and introduce aeolian related problems of environment to mathematical and mechanical scientists.