CHAPTER VIII

CHANGES IN ISLANDS OVER TIME

Although usually imperceptible to the human eye, the land is constantly changing under the influence of the Earth’s normal geophysical forces, in particular the force of water that causes land both to increase in size and to erode. There are different ways that islands may increase or decrease in size, which in turn can have important collateral legal consequences.

A. Ways that Islands Can Change over Time Islands can be affected over time through normal processes of accretion or erosion. “Accretion” is the general term used for increases in land through new layers or formations, though lawyers often use the term “alluvion” when describing the increase in land through deposits of sediment by rivers. “Erosion” is typically used to describe decreases in the land through washing away of soil. However described, islands can be created or des- troyed in rivers or lakes, or in delta areas as the river flows into the ocean. Of course, these new formations may be only an internal modification of existing State territory, such as when an island is formed within a river that is totally within the territory a State. Yet when new formations appear along the boundary of States, issues may arise regarding sovereignty over the formation and whether the formation has an effect with respect to the location of the boundary. Further, if through accretion or erosion the coastline of a State is reshaped so as to change 278 S. D. Murphy the location of its baselines, this can have a collateral effect on the maritime zones of the State 860. Separate from the steady but long-term processes of accretion and erosion, more dramatic events can create and destroy islands, notably volcanic activity 861. For example, volcanic activity off the coast of the Islands in 1811 resulted in the creation of a small island. The captain of a British warship, who was the first person to land on the island, called it Sabrina Island (after the name of his ship), and claimed it for Britain. That claim was not well received by , and the two States were headed towards a significant diplomatic dispute when the island suddenly collapsed and fell back into the sea 862. Similarly, in 1831, a volcanic island suddenly emerged about 27 nautical miles south of the island of 863. Once again, it was a British warship on patrol that first spotted the island, naming it Graham Island, and claiming sovereignty for Britain. Here, too, other States objected, including the King of Sicily, no doubt realizing the strategic significance of the island’s location for navigation in the Mediterranean. In any event, once again the diplomatic row was cut short when the island

860 See Haritini Dipla, “New Islands”, in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Vol. VI, op. cit., p. 414. 861 See Sebastien Touze, “Les iles volcaniques emergees : regles d’acquisition territoriale et regime de delimitation maritime”, Annuaire francais de droit international, Vol. 52 (2006), p. 455. 862 See S. Tillard, “A Narrative of the Eruption of a Volcano in the Sea off the Island of St. Michael”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 102 (1812), p. 152 ; Walter Frederick Walker, The Azores : Or Western Islands : A Political, Commercial and Geographic Account, Trumber & Company, 1886, p. 63. 863 See Horace Greeley and Park Benjamin (eds.), “Volcanic Islands in the Mediterranean”, The New Yorker, Vol. VII (1839), p. 52.