Automatic image analysis applied to the recognition of quartz surface microtextures using neural network.

Microtextures imprinted on the surface of quartz grains provide in-depth information on the environmental conditions and sedimentary processes that affected the study sediments. Microtextural analyses are therefore widely used in the provenance studies of sediments. In order to minimize the subjectivity of microtextural recognition, we propose a new software, called DeepGrain (source codes are available at https://github.com/deepgrains/deepgrain), for the automatic identification of microtextures on the surface of quartz grains using the DeepLabV3 model with applied improving techniques. The approach provides an accuracy of 99 % of the area of the tested grains and 63 % of the mechanical features on the surfaces of the tested grains. The inference of a single SEM image of quartz grain took an average of 3.10 sec, leading to a significant reduction in the analysis time of a single grain.

Public perception and preferences for coastal risk management: Evidence from a convergent parallel mixed-methods study.

Coastal ecosystems are exposed to unprecedented levels of human pressure and to the cumulative effects of climate change. Altogether, these threats have been exposing coastal areas to augmented hazardous processes, leaving communities highly vulnerable to coastal risks and challenging the coastal management paradigm. Disregarding public perceptions of coastal risk management may be myopic and, thus, an obstacle to the success of the efforts towards coastal risks' mitigation and adaptation. Therefore, this study aims at comprehensively ascertain public perception and preferences for coastal risk management, through a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative study accounted for 3028 participants that enrolled in the population-based survey. The qualitative study accounted for 320 participants that responded to the e-interview. Data were analysed independently and triangulated for further interpretation. Evidence from this study suggests that citizens prioritize the intrinsic value of coastal systems, when favouring a risk adaptation strategy. Therefore, ecosystem-based adaptation measures were highlighted, in detriment of grey infrastructure. Additionally, and due to the reported high levels of public authorities' distrust, the public seems to urge for a transition from a technocratic to a participatory coastal management, in which public's preferences are legitimized. Consequently, and in order to decentralize coastal governance, citizens demonstrated a proactive disposition to actively engage in coastal management. Findings from this study were discussed in order to provide guidance to the development of tailored coastal management initiatives and policy tools, which are expected to be effective at enhancing coastal communities' resilience to hazardous processes and augmenting citizens' engagement in coastal management.

Contemporary pollution of surface sediments from the Algarve shelf, Portugal.

The present-day human footprint is traceable in all environments. Growing urban centers, tourism, agricultural and industrial activities in combination with fishery, aquacultures and intense naval traffic, result in a large output of pollutants onto coastal regions. The Algarve shelf (Portugal) is one exemplary highly affected coastal system. With this study the contemporary pollution was followed in eighteen offshore surface sediment samples. Heavy metals (e.g., Cr, Pb, Cu, Hg) and organic contaminants, such as linear alkylbenzenes, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane metabolites, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and hopanes, have been identified and quantified, that pose hazardous effects on the marine environment and biota. This study correlates spatial distribution patterns with the pollutant composition, potential sources and pathways, each sample's grain size, and local influences, such as discharging river systems and ocean currents. This study presents a blueprint-study that allows the methodological adaption to new shelf systems with regionally different ocean current-driven distribution patterns of anthropogenic pollutants.