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Geological subsidence and sinking islands: the case of Manono (Samoa)
Author(s) -
SAND CHRISTOPHE,
BOLÉ JACQUES,
BARET DAVID,
OUETCHO ANDRÉJOHN,
PETCHEY FIONA,
HOGG ALAN,
ASAUA TAUTALA
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
archaeology in oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1834-4453
pISSN - 0728-4896
DOI - 10.1002/arco.5099
Subject(s) - subsidence , geology , archaeology , population , american samoa , geography , oceanography , paleontology , cartography , demography , structural basin , sociology
W.R. Dickinson, as part of his wide study of the geological history of the Pacific islands, has linked the unique case of the deeply submerged Lapita site of Mulifanua in western Upolu (Samoa) to the slow subsidence of Upolu island. Recent archaeological research on the neighbouring small island of Manono has yielded new and detailed data on this geological process. A series of new dates has allowed us to define the speed of the subsidence and demonstrate the massive environmental changes to which the local population has had to adapt over the past 2000 years.