Search Results (4)

Eliza Gettel’s paper on the displacement of the Delians in the second century BCE does an excellent job of examining an ancient case study of displacement through the lens of contemporary conceptions of displacement and asylum. In this paper, I try, as a modern historian of asylum, to reflect on the applicability of modern classifications to a case study over 2000 years old. First, I discuss the compatibility of the ancient with the modern. Subsequently, I engage much more deliberately with the arguments Gettel presents in her paper. Finally, I introduce a contemporary case study involving the displacement of people from the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean that I argue shares some similarities with that of the Delians, with both cases highlighting the often-neglected agency of the displaced. Full article

We welcome Sheppard’s comments on our recent assessment of both ecological and geomorphic change at Diego Garcia Atoll in the central Indian Ocean [1]. Whilst our assessment incorporated numerous aspects of change, including movements of the lagoon rim shorelines, changes in the terrestrial vegetation on the lagoon rim and amendments to the bathymetry of the lagoon basin through dredging activities [2], this comment solely addresses the estimates of shoreline change. Here we make some brief remarks relating to this shoreline assessment of Diego Garcia and elaborate on some of the complexities of the geomorphic processes that underpin shoreline dynamics. These complexities have important implications for understanding reef island shoreline dynamics, both at this site and globally. Full article

Hamylton and East [1] reported a remarkably substantial expansion and accretion of land since the 1960s at numerous sites along the island of Diego Garcia atoll. This atoll has a near continuous rim encircling its lagoon, and they reported that the width of the island rim has expanded by several tens of metres in many places. Those results contrast markedly with my own near-annual observations on the ground where erosion and increased seawater inundation, rather than land accretion, is evident in many places. Hamylton and East have never visited the atoll but their results have been picked up for various reasons. Therefore I note possible reasons for the substantial discrepancy between their measurements and my own observations, and propose a resolution. Full article

This study compiled a wide range of modern and historic geospatial datasets to examine ecological and geomorphic change at Diego Garcia Atoll across a 38-year period (1967–2005). This remarkable collection of spatially referenced information offered an opportunity to advance our understanding of the nature and extent of environmental change that has taken place with the construction of the military airbase at Diego Garcia. Changes assessed included movements of the lagoon rim shorelines, changes in the terrestrial vegetation on the lagoon rim and amendments to the bathymetry of the lagoon basin through dredging activities. Data compiled included detailed shoreline and vegetation maps produced as part of the H.M.S. Vidal Indian Ocean Expedition (1967), three Ikonos satellite images acquired in 2005 that collectively covered the complete Atoll area, a ground truthing field dataset collected in the northern section of the lagoon for the purpose of seafloor mapping (2005), observational evidence of shoreline erosion including photographs and descriptions of seawater inundations and bathymetric soundings from five independent surveys of the lagoon floor (1967, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1997). Results indicated that much of the change along the lagoon rim is associated with the expansion of the inner lagoon shoreline as a result of the construction of the military airbase, with an estimated increase in land area of 3.01 km² in this portion of the atoll rim. Comparisons of 69 rim width transects measured from 1967 and 2005 indicated that shorelines are both eroding (26 transects) and accreting (43 transects). Within a total vegetated area of 24 km², there was a notable transition from Cocos Woodland to Broadleaf Woodland for a land area of 5.6 km². From the hydrographic surveys, it was estimated that approximately 0.55 km³ of carbonate sediment material has been removed from the northwest quadrant of the lagoon, particularly in the vicinity of the Main Passage. As no previous record of benthic character exists, a complete benthic habitat map of the atoll was derived through classification of the three IKONOS satellite images. Management implications arising from this overall appraisal of geomorphic and ecological change at Diego Garcia included the need for ongoing monitoring of shoreline change at a representative set of sites around the atoll rim, monitoring of the water flow regime through the northern channels between the open ocean and the lagoon basin and an ongoing mapping campaign to record periodic changes in the character of the benthic surface ecology. Full article