Group 3: Phm Th Mai Phng V Thu Quyn

Sifting through the sands of time

Sand is one of the most common substances on earth. Sand covers sea-shores, ocean beds, deserts and mountains. In addition, it is an important material in man-made items such as concrete, glass Exactly, sand is larger than fine dust and smaller than shingle. Depending on colour or shape, we can discover sands origins and age. Sand has come from the erosion of rocks, or from skeletons of marine organisms, or even from volcanic eruptions. Its grains also may be derived from nearby coral outcrops, from crystalline quartz rocks or from gypsum. And sands, perhaps, will be stone once more in another few hundred million as the fine, white beaches of northern Scotland, are recycled from sandstone several hundred million years old. Sand is irreplaceable industrial substance and it also has one vital function: sand protects our land from seas influence.

Effects on Salmon Biodiversity

The number of Pacific salmon has declined dramatically. Each year, countless of salmon migrate from and to freshwater to spawn a new generation. But more than a century ago, this number began to decrease, especially in the 1970s. In Northern America, there are 5 species of Pacific salmon: pink salmon, chum, sockeye, coho and chinook, and they are also die after spawning once. The life cycle of a typical salmon begins with females depositing eggs in nests, or redds, on the gravel bottoms of rivers and lakes. The young emerge from here and live from a few days to several years in freshwater, and then they swim into the sea. After anywhere from a few months to a few years, they come back to the river where they were born and they spawn there, the cycle begins again. However, human induced changes to salmons environment. With the extensive development of hydropower on the rivers, population of salmon has been disrupted. Human people have adopted some measures to protect salmon such as submersible screens, fish laddersbut they dont benefit all fish. Dams may also change salmon habitat and water temperature, therefore, life cycle of chinook changed: they emerge from the gravel later than and migrate downstream later.