ANOTHER SCARE DEBUNKED - MALDIVES MORE RESILIENT TO CLIMATE CHANGE THAN THOUGHT 

P.S. Kench, R.F. McLean, S.L. Nichol, 2005. New model of reef-island evolution: Maldives, Indian Ocean, Geology, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 145-148. HYPERLINK http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/33/2/145 http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/33/2/145

A new model of reef-island evolution, based on detailed morphostratigraphic analysis and radiometric dating of three islands in South Maalhosmadulu Atoll, Maldives, is presented. Islands initially formed on a foundation of lagoonal sediments between 5500 and 4500 yr B.P. when the reef surface was as much as 2.5 m below modern sea level. Islands accumulated rapidly during the following 1500 yr, effectively reaching their current dimensions by 4000 yr B.P. Since then the high circum-island peripheral ridge has been subject to seasonal and longer-term shoreline changes, while the outer reef has grown upward, reducing the energy window and confining the islands. This new model has far-reaching implications for island stability during a period of global warming and raised sea level, which will partially reactivate the energy window, although it is not expected to inhibit upward reef growth or compromise island stability. ... Contrary to most established commentaries on the precarious nature of atoll islands, our data and model present an optimistic view for the Maldivian islands. They have existed for >5000 yr, are morphologically resilient rather than fragile systems, and are expected to persist under current scenarios of future climate change and sea-level rise.