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There is a strong Geoarchaeology element to the conference.


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Apologies for cross-posting

Itinerary & abstracts now available

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/gy/allatsea/programme.html

Day rate delegates can still register until Wednesday 31st March


All at Sea? Synergies between
past and present
coastal processes and ecology.
Conference, Loughborough University, UK, 22nd-23rd April
2010.

Organisers: Dr D. B. Ryves, Professor N. J. Anderson & Dr
P.J. Wood

QRA & ECSA members are eligible for reduced attendance
fees.

Key Note Speakers:

Professor Antony Long, University of Durham
Professor Graham Underwood, University of Essex
Dr Maarten Blaauw, Queen's University Belfast

Coastal zones are dynamic systems. They are high-energy
environments
exhibiting rapid spatial and temporal change and are
constantly evolving.
The complex interaction of physical processes operating on
both short (e.g.
tides, fluvial input of nutrients and sediment) and
longer-term timescales
(e.g. climate & sea level change) form the driving force
for many of the
biological, chemical and sedimentological processes that
occur in these
systems. Coastal zones are unique in their steep gradation
of conditions
(e.g. salinity) which produce distinctive ecological
communities.

In recent years human impact has seriously altered many of
these coastal
systems resulting in issues such as eutrophication,
over-exploitation of
resources and pollution catching media attention. Such
major anthropogenic
changes make it increasingly difficult to understand the
already complex
natural physical processes and ecological changes
operating within the
coastal zone. These complex issues must be dealt with
before we can begin to
use these archives as palaeo-records for understanding the
past, for which
they offer great potential to integrate the independent
terrestrial and
marine records of past climatic and environmental change.
By understanding
the past in these terms we can provide valuable context
for investigating
recent and future change.

This conference aims to address the following questions:
1. How do physical, biological and chemical processes in
the coastal zone
impact ecological communities and how do these communities
change and evolve
over time?
2. Can we successfully isolate natural environmental
change from human
impact in modern and recent coastal systems?
3. How can we most effectively apply complex contemporary
ecological
information to improve our interpretation of
palaeo-records?
4. How can we integrate complex contemporary ecological
data with
time-averaged palaeo-data to improve policy and management
of coastal
ecological systems and future predictions under changing
climate?

This conference will be composed of four sessions
entitled:
1. The contemporary coastal zone: physical, biological and
chemical impacts
on ecology.
2. Assessment of the strength of climatic and
environmental change
inferences from palaeoecological investigations.
3. Formation of the palaeo-record in high-energy
environments: chronology,
taphonomy and diagenesis
4. Integrating contemporary and palaeo datasets from the
coastal zone:
synthesis and visions for the future.

For more information and registration details see:
(http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/gy/allatsea/) or
e-mail
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