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Originally Posted by New Era
That's kind of a misleading article. The atolls are getting larger because of sediment deposit. This means more sand is being deposited adding to the total area of the atoll, , which affects the length and width of the land, but not affecting the important elevation. The important factor that rising sea levels will affect is the sustainable land mass. All this means is there will be more beaches under water as the waters rise. It does not mean the land mass is rising to keep the sustainable resources (arid land and fresh water sources) safe. It just means that more sediment is piling up against the atoll.
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But that's a big part of how atolls forms. And there are potential mechanisms for that sediment to maintain elevation. A new paper from the same team that found Tuvalu growing found in a simulation that:
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“Atoll islands do not sit inert on the reef, instead the gravel and sand they are made up of shifts on the reef itself so that the land changes in response to environmental conditions. Interestingly, the elevation of the atoll crest – the highest ground – mirrored the rise in sea levels which suggests sea level may be an important controlling factor on island elevation.”
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https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/sea-...pacific-atolls