Funamanu

{{Short description|Island in Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu}} thumb | right | alt=Funafuti (Tuvalu) from space | Funafuti (Tuvalu) from space'''Funamanu''' is a small narrow island that is part of Funafuti, an atoll in Tuvalu. It is a ''motu'' (islet) or very small island 2.6 miles southwest of the southwest tip of Funafuti. The islet is covered in coconut trees which grow 70 feet high.<ref>Publications, Issue 166, United States. Hydrographic Office (1916)</ref> Te Ava Pua Pua is the passage through the reef, with a least depth of 12.7 metres, between the islets of Funamanu to the north and Fale Fatu to the south, in the southeast of Funafuti atoll.<ref name="ANC">{{cite book |title= Admiralty Nautical Chart 2983 Tuvalu - Funafuti atoll|publisher= United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO)}}</ref>

Funamanu is an example of an island on an atoll that is mainly composed of coral debris eroded from encircling reefs and pushed up onto the island by winds and waves. Paul Kench at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Arthur Webb at the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission in Fiji released a study in 2010 on the dynamic response of reef islands to sea level rise in the central Pacific. Funamanu was mentioned in the study as being one of seven islands on the atolls of Tuvalu that have spread by more than 3 per cent on average since the 1950s. Funamanu gained 0.44 hectares, or nearly 30 per cent of its previous area.<ref name="WZ">{{cite web|first=Wendy |last=Zukerman|title =Shape-shifting islands defy sea-level rise | date =2 June 2010 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627633.700-shapeshifting-islands-defy-sealevel-rise.html|publisher= New Scientist|access-date=5 May 2012}}</ref>

The storm surge resulting from a tropical cyclone can dramatically shift coral debris.<ref name="NG15">{{cite web|last= Warne|first= Kennedy|work= National Geographic|title= Will Pacific Island Nations Disappear as Seas Rise? Maybe Not - Reef islands can grow and change shape as sediments shift, studies show|date= 13 February 2015|url= http://news-beta.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/150213-tuvalu-sopoaga-kench-kiribati-maldives-cyclone-marshall-islands/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150214031223/http://news-beta.nationalgeographic.com/2015/02/150213-tuvalu-sopoaga-kench-kiribati-maldives-cyclone-marshall-islands/|url-status= dead|archive-date= February 14, 2015|access-date= 14 February 2015}}</ref> In 1972 Funafuti was in the path of Cyclone Bebe. Tropical Cyclone Bebe was a pre-season tropical cyclone that impacted the Gilbert, Ellice Islands, and Fiji island groups.<ref name="BOM1975">Bureau of Meteorology (1975) ''Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1971-1972'' Australian Government Publishing Service</ref> First spotted on October 20, the system intensified and grew in size through October 22.{{cn|date=January 2026}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Coord|8|33|55|S|179|07|59|E|display=title|region:TV_type:isle}}

Category:Islands of Tuvalu Category:Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act Category:Funafuti