EVS-Islands: Thoughts - The Quaking Carterets

The Quaking Carterets

Yes, the Carterets appear to be sinking. "Why" is the question.

I have a previous post about the Carterets that led to my current fascination with this diminishing atoll. Apparently, others around the world are fascinated as well, as many visitors are checking out my post on the Carterets.

The folks living on the atoll know that they are sinking and they blame it on greenhouse gases. They look to the industrial nations of the world to pony up some bucks to relocate them to a more permanent place. It sounds like a fair request, if in fact that is the sole reason for the atolls submergence.

Wikipedia has an interesting article devoted to the plight of the Carterets. In the article the possibility that part of the problem might be related to a fishing practice employed by the inhabitants - they occassionally fish with dynamite. I could see where that might compact a coral reef given enough explosives. But I suspect that dynamite, although contributing to their current plight, is not the primary cause.

I think we've got a combination of problems contributing to the sinking Carterets. I believe that global warming, shrinking ice caps and sea level rise, typhoons and and accompanying sea surge along with shifting tectonic plates are all erasing what little emerged land the Carterets have left. Atolls are geologically fragile structures. They are transitory entities shaped by sea and internal forces. Let's focus on earthquakes and subduction zones and plate tectonics. Now that's a real land shaper!

Carteret Atoll, unfortunately, is located at the juncture of a series of highly active tectonic plates. Some of the plates are sliding north, some to the south and some are diving under the others. How do I know these are highly active? Earthquakes! These, along with volcanoes which are scattered throughout the area, are signature events of active tectonic plates. As you study the accompanying maps, you are viewing one of the most geologically active regions in the world. This part of the world, including the Carterets, is dynamically changing. The Carterets could be diving under the sea because the plate they are located on is diving. The reason other atolls in the area are not diving could be because they are slightly higher than the Carterets or their location is not diving as rapidly as the Carterets is. Whatever the reasons, which I will leave to the scientific community to determine, the Carterets are sinking.

The Carterets are located in an unfortunate geological place and that is their difficult situation. Their problem is that they will drown if they don't get off of their islands. I have a solution, but that is for my next post.

PS - You might be interested in my previous post about Carteret Atoll .

Labels: Carteret Atoll, earthquakes, global warming, island, map, Marplot, plate tectonics