Coastal evolution in the Asia Pacific region

This book focuses on the potential impacts of global change on coastal environments in the Asia-Pacific region. The region is significant because phenomena such as the Asian Monsoon and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, affect the world climate; it has diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including the world largest areas of coral reefs and mangroves; it has almost two-thirds of the world's total human population; and its economic growth rate is the highest of any region in the world. The book identifies important global change issues which will be relevant for the future management of coastal environments in the Asia-Pacific region. The most important of these is global warming and accelerated sea-level rise. The potential impacts from this are compounded by current issues such as unsustainable use of coastal resources; coastal impacts from poor catchment management; population increase and urbanisation pressure; coastal resource and development pressure on rural coasts. The book addresses methods for tackling these issues such as "integrated coastal management" and the need to recognize the diversity of coastal management practices in the Asia-Pacific region. The book is written by international coastal experts from the region who have identified key directions for future global change research that will be of relevance for coastal management in the Asia-Pacific region. [Book Synopsis

Alluvial charcoal in the Sigatoka Valley, Viti Levu Island, Fiji

Charcoal concentrations in alluvial sediments throughout the Sigatoka (and adjacent) catchments, western VitiLevu Island, Fiji were located, sampled and, where possible, dated. The earliest date (5579–5052 cal year BP) almost certainly predates human arrival and represents a natural fire, perhaps associated with drought conditions during an El Niño event. The next three dates are clustered around the time just after initial human arrival in Fiji 2900–2700 cal year BP and could mean that humans transited the area 40 km inland within this time. The next date (1520–1260 cal year BP) is not associated with any other. The final five dates are likewise clustered around the time of the AD 1300 Event, and are believed to mark the time when permanent inland (upland?) settlement was established in this part of VitiLevu

Human responses to climate change around AD 1300: a case study of the Sigatoka valley, Viti Levu Island, Fiji

In the Sigatoka Valley on Viti Levu Island in Fiji, three independent studies of last-millennium environmental and human-societal changes suggest that these were driven largely by the climate and sea-level changes of the AD 1300 Event. Establishment dates for interior fortified hilltop (or cave) settlements show that a significant number were established during or shortly after the AD 1300 Event, probably in response to primarily food shortages arising from sea-level fall (affecting coastal populations) and water-table fall (affecting coastal and inland populations). Charcoal concentrations in valley-floor sediments formed as a result of largely human burning of vegetation associated with the establishment of inland hilltop settlements; radiocarbon dates from these charcoals also suggest significant numbers of such settlements being established during or shortly after the AD 1300 Event. The main dune at the Sigatoka River mouth is underlain by the ‘Level 3’ palaeosol, dated to the AD 1300 Event, which implies that thereafter an abrupt and sustained increase in suspended fluvial sediment, associated in increased inland population, began to build the high dunes visible today. This study provides a well-constrained example of the effects that the AD 1300 Event had on Pacific Islands and their people

Reconstruction of a Lapita lady skeleton unearthed from the Moturiki Island, Fiji (preliminary report)

No abstract available

Reconstructing the Lapita-era geography of northern Fiji: a newly-discovered Lapita site on Yadua Island and its implications

Questions concerning the earliest human occupation of northern Fiji were addressed by geoarchaeological survey on the island of Yadua. Yadua lies at the entrance to an ocean passage that early seafarers might have followed into central Fiji where some early Lapita sites exist. Evidence for a Lapita presence was discovered on Yadua at a small coastal flat called Vagairiki, likely to have been occupied by Lapita people around 2600 cal yr BP because of available freshwater and one of the few fringing reefs existing in the area at the time. It is concluded that the Lapita people reached Yadua and other parts of northern Fiji in a post-founder phase of Fiji history