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CORVALLIS - A new atlas from Oregon Sea Grant and the Pacific Circle Consortium examines the coastal zones of the Pacific region, their human populations and the natural environment in which they live, work and play.

"Coastal Zones of the Pacific: A Descriptive Atlas" is aimed at young readers ages 13-17, and is filled with photographs and illustrations providing information on topics ranging from per capita automobile ownership to nuclear activity in the Pacific and distribution of threatened plant and animal species.

Sandy Ridlington, managing editor for Oregon Sea Grant Communications and the book's editor, said the book is intended to provide a set of cross-cultural materials that could empower its readers to understand the Pacific region and empathize with those who call it home.

With text by Marguerite Wells of Australia and art by Don Poole of Corvallis and Anna Asquith of Hawaii, the atlas includes chapters on the region's environment, including winds and currents, beaches and cliffs, wetlands and estuaries and coral reefs and atolls.

It also covers such human dimensions as pollution, the greenhouse effect and coastal management and regulation.

A chapter on original peoples of the Pacific traces the histories, movement and rights of indigenous groups from North America to the islands of the central and western Pacific, and other chapters explore the history and prospects of protected animals, plants and places.

The 160-page, paper-bound atlas is available from Oregon Sea Grant Communications, 402 Administrative Services, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR 97331-2134. The price is $14.95 plus postage and handling. Ask for ORESU-B-96-001.

Oregon Sea Grant is based at OSU. The Pacific Circle Consortium is made up of science and social studies educators from around the Pacific, and is dedicated in part to providing curriculum materials related to the region.