Vulnerability of the Natural Coastal System to Accelerated Sea-Level Rise, Yap Islands, FSM; Case Study Preliminary Results
Vulnerability of the Natural Coastal System to Accelerated Sea-Level Rise, Yap Islands, FSM; Case Study Preliminary Results (Report). 1994. doi:10.3133/ofr94665. ISSN 0196-1497.
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Abstract: Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia consists of 16 islands spread over a distance of nearly 1,000 km across the western Pacific Ocean. Four island types are present in Yap State: 1) The main Yap Islands consist of four large, and several smaller, high volcanic islands surrounded by a fringing reef.2) Ten atolls consisting of an annular reef rim enclosing a central lagoon which may be connected to the open ocean by deep passages. Low-lying coral islets are scattered on the upper surface of the reef rim. 3) There are four Reef Islands, which are low-lying coral islands developed on a small reef platform and devoid of a significant lagoon.4) A single high limestone island (Fais) partially surrounded by a narrow fringing reef and the remainder of the island consisting of a cliffed-coast. The present study concentrated on identifying and describing characteristic shoreline areas of the main Yap Islands. Coastal profile data were from eleven representative sites around the Yap islands shoreline. Three critical natural environments were identified: 1) Mangrove forests which comprise about 10% of the total land area and a distance of nearly 114 km along the shoreline. Mangrove area has been expanding throughout the Holocene and we suggest that under a rising sea level would expand in a landward direction as low-lying coastal land becomes intertidal. Shoreline erosion would probably be minimized due to mangrove protection.2) Sand beaches and associated sand-rich coastal plains are limited in extent, occurring in exposed localities and comprising only about 0.25% of the total land area. However, they form important settlement sites and are critical to modern and traditional Yapese culture. Sand beaches are extremely vulnerable to accelerated erosion and a landward shift of the shoreline profile during a rising sea level can be expected.3) Coral reefs surround the main…
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