Description
The Maldivian reef islands have been found to exhibit a high degree of short-term variability in response to monsoonal climate patterns. The island shorelines display the effects of rapid morphological adjustments in response to reversals in wind direction (from the south-west during winter monsoon and north-east during the summer monsoon) and wave patterns. Enbulufushi is a small uninhabited island of the Faafu Atoll, elongated in North-South direction. The island is poorly vegetated, with only some coconut palms on its northern part and low shrubby and herbaceous vegetation on the remainder of the island. Along the northern shore, the erosion is very pronounced, with the consequence that several palm trees fell into the water. On the contrary, deposition is pronounced on the southern side, suggesting a migration of the island towards the south, including the elongated sand strip that shows high seasonable mobility.

Credits: model provided by Luca Fallati, MaRHE Center (https://marhe.unimib.it/).

References

  • Cabioch, G., Davies, P., Done, T., Gischler, E., Macintyre, I. G., Wood, R., & Woodroffe, C. (2010). Encyclopedia of modern coral reefs: structure, form and process. Springer Science & Business Media
  • Kench, P. S., & Brander, R. W. (2006). Response of reef island shorelines to seasonal climate oscillations: South Maalhosmadulu atoll, Maldives. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 111(1), 1–12.