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DIGITAL ESTIMATION OF SHORELINE CHANGES IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

SITES OF TAMIL NADU COAST: ARIKAMEDU AND SEMBIYANKANDIYUR

Article in Journal of Critical Reviews · February 2022

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 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS
ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 14, 2020

DIGITAL ESTIMATION OF SHORELINE CHANGES

IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF TAMIL NADU
COAST: ARIKAMEDU AND SEMBIYANKANDIYUR
SATHIYAMOORTHYG1, *SIVAPRAKASAM VASUDEVAN2, RAMKUMART3, SUBHRAJITDAS4
1,2,3,4
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Email:*devansiva@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The results obtained in this research using modern techniques like Digital Shoreline Analysis
System (DSAS) show that the Archaeological Sites present within the study area are usually experiences erosion.
Totally 66 transects were generated with 50m spacing and end to end distance of each transect was 500 m. The
major seashore change due to erosion and accretion in Archaeological sites were established. The maximum
long-term erosion and accretion rate obtained is -1.61 m/year and 9.12 m/year, short-term erosion and accretion
rate is -2.48 m/year and 9.83 m/year and Net shoreline movement erosion and accretion rate is -25.28 m/period
and 56.38 m/period respectively. Amongst the total shoreline of the study area, 51 and 191 km stretches are
experiencing accretion and erosion respectively. The predominant archaeological sites of the study area namely.
Sembiyankandiyur and Arikamedu experiences shoreline changes with respect to Linear regression rate (LRR),
endpoint rate (EPR) and Net shoreline movement (NSM). The digitally estimated LRR, EPR, and NSM in the
Archaeological sites are -1.61 m/year, -2.48 m/year and -25.28 m/period and -1.39 m/year, -2.01 m/year and -
20.52 m/period respectively. The digital analysis explicit that the Sembiyankandiyur experiences more disruption
than that of Arikamedu. The outcome of the study warrants immediate intervention to protect and reduce further
damage to the globally well-known Archaeological sites.
KEYWORDS: LRR, EPR and NSM, Erosion and Accretion.

I. INTRODUCTION
Beachfront disintegration is a worldwide issue influencing every country on the globe having a coastline. This
issue will be accelerated in the future due to dangerous global warming, which probably will cause an ocean
level ascent and increase several storm events over the globe. Expenses for a developing nation to prevent the
Archaeological location would maybe lower, but still, be a lot of financial commitment towards reducing the
erosion is of most importance. Particularly for India, all accessible cash has been spent towards poverty decrease
and for improving the medical care rather than the cash being lost to the ocean consistently. This incorporate
erosion costs as destroyed properties, significant land lost to the ocean, and expenses for relief measures for
erosion.

Coastline erosion is one of the major concerns in the states of Tamil Nadu. Trouble has been reported along
nearly the entire seashore of Pondicherry and Vedaranyam, which encompass significant Archaeological sites.
The focal point of this learning is to estimate shoreline changes on a shore extend from Pondicherry and ending
at Vedaranyam, 240 km. Causes of coastal erosion can fluctuate from location to location, however, it can be
comprehensive into two different major types; natural or human-induced erosion. Coastal erosion trouble is often
an outcome of both. Natural erosion is usually caused by the long-shore current in which energy is breaking at an
angle to the shore and waves breaking straight to the beach (CEM 2006). Human-induced erosion can be due to
some reasons; sand mining along beaches, rivers contributing with sediment to the beach, constructions built to
prevent erosion can cause erosion by jamming the sediment transport along the shoreline, and by destroying
coral reefs and mangroves (Masalu 2002). The processes involved in the beach dynamics of the study area are
complex and not yet completely clarified. The actual definition of shoreline, mapping, and using them is a
complicated task (Nayak, 2002 and Ron Li et al. 2001) and the seashore is the most unique feature of the earth's
surface (Ron Li et al. 2001).

Sundaresh et al. (2006) performed the shoreline changes along with the Poompuhar Tranquebar Region of North
Tamil Nadu coast. Hong Yeon Cho et al. (2004) used satellite data to perform the coastal wetland and seashore
change mapping of Pichavaram, along the Tamil Nadu coast. Meijerink (1971) had studied the coastal land use
and seashore changes have taken place in the Cauvery delta since 6000 years B.P and exposed that the oldest
beach ridge was placed near Thirthuraipoondi, nearly 35 km from Point Calimere on the east coast of India.
Gurugnanam et al (2000) had considered the shoreline changes of the Coastal districts of Nagapattinam,
Thanjavur for the period 1930 and 1994 using Survey of India topographical maps and IRS IB LISS II data.

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The magnitude of shoreline erosion/ accretion depends on geographic locations and physical parameters (Dean
and Dalrymple 2002; Dewall and Richter 1977). The length of the seashore in Tamil Nadu is about 980 km and it
is the second-largest coast in India. Two monsoon periods namely, Southwest monsoon (June to September) and
Northeast monsoon (October to January) influences the shoreline oscillations. In specific, Tamil Nadu state is
uncovered to cyclones almost every different year. Joshi (1995) and Rufus et al (1999) have studied the problem
of coastal erosion in north Chennai and reported that a total of 20 villages and hamlet settlements all along the
shore from south to north are facing the threat of sea erosion every year.

1.1. Study Area

The East coast of India delimited in the East the of Bay of Bengal (Fig 1). It extends between Pondicherry in the
North and Vedaranyam in the South and lies among the latitudes 11° 54’ N to 10° 16’ N and longitudes 79° 49’ E
to 79° 49’ E and form part of the Coromandal shore which include the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
in India. The extent of the seashore of the study area is 243km.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) as defined by the USGS (2005) was used to determine the rate of
change in the shoreline of the Coastal Tamil Nadu. This method computes rate-of-change statistics from multiple
historic shoreline positions inherent in a GIS environment. The shaped layers of multi-date Shorelines have been
used as an input for the DSAS model for calculating the rate of change since 1970 for 47 years.

Baselines were created at ~1 km landward of the 1972 seashore excluding the smaller creeks and areas such as
river mouths and spits. Regarding the baseline, seaward shift of the seashore along the transect was measured as
accretion (deposition), while the landward shift was measured as erosion. The rate of long-term seashore
variation has been calculated using Linear Regression Rate (LRR), short-term shoreline variation action has been
calculated using End Point Rate (EPR) and the Shoreline Change with respect to the study period has been
attained by Net Shoreline Movement (NSM) method in the ARC-GIS background.

Figure 1 Location Map of the Study Area

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III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Beach erosion is chronic trouble along most open-ocean shores of India. As the coastal population continues to
increase infrastructure and historically important locations are threatened by erosion. There is increased demand
for accurate information regarding past and present trends and the rate of shoreline movement. Archaeological
sites are not only a repository of the culture and evolution of the ethnic group but also the pride of the nation. To
address the archaeological sites threatened by the shoreline changes, the two prominent Archaeological sites
namely Arikamedu and Sembiyankandiyur are chosen to analyze historical seashore changes along the coastal
part of Tamil Nadu.

The seashore of years 1970, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019 was extracted as vector layer
through on display digitization. These seashore vectors of the respective years were superimposed over the base
map and the seashore changes were quantified. Based on the outcome of the study the rates of erosion/accretion
equivalent to the seashore were computed for the study area and the consequences are furnished in Table 1.
A total of 66 transects were generated with 50m spacing and an average change rate considered from 1970 to
2019. The seashore investigation for the period of 1970 to 2019 exposed that most of the beachfront underwent
erosion with limited accretion in small patches.

Table 1 Overall Shoreline Changes for Archaeological site

Archaeological site LRR EPR NSM
-1.39 -2.01 -20.52
Arikamedu
6.14 7.84 45.66
-1.61 -2.48 -25.28
Sembiyankandiyur
9.12 9.83 56.38

3.1. Arikamedu
Arikamedu is an archaeological site in Southern India, in Kakkayanthope, Ariyankuppam
Commune, Pondicherry and it is situated 4 km south from the Pondicherry. Momentous findings at Arikamedu
include numerous Indo-Pacific beads, which facilitate fixing the period of its origin. Red and black ceramics-
known as megalithic stones or Pandukal in Tamil meaning "old stones" and used to mark graves-have existed at
the site even before dates of the trading post, and also in later periods. In this region, the accretion occurred in
the long-term rate were found as 6.14 m/yea and erosion of -1.39 m/year, the short-term accretion of 7.84 m/year
and erosion of -2.01 m/year and the net amount of accretion and erosion of 45.66 m/period and -20.52 m/period
respectively (Table 1, Figure 2).

3.2. Sembiyankandiyur
Sembiyankandiyur is an Archaeological site in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu, India. In early 2006, a
polished Neolithic Celt (tool) that had engravings similar to the Indus script was identified by a school teacher V.
Shanmuganathan. The Celt, a polished hand-held stone axe, has four Indus Valley signs on it. He added that
before this finding, the southernmost incident of the Indus script was at Daimabad, Maharashtra on the Pravara
River in the Godavari Valley. The opportunity of the Celt coming from North India has also ruled out as the
object of this stone was of peninsular origin. The Sembiyankandiyur region experiences the accretion as in the
long-term rate with 9.12 m/year and erosion of -1.61 m/year, the short-term accretion of 9.83 m/year and erosion
of -2.48 m/year, and the net amount of accretion and erosion of 56.38 m/period and -25.28 m/period respectively
(Table 1, Figure 3).

IV. CONCLUSION
To make out the original processes in the coastal erosion on the Tamil Nadu coast, DSAS model and data testing
was worked to realize the essential processes and the forceful growth of a natural system. The LRR value -1.61
m / year, EPR value -2.48 m / year and NSM with -25.28 m/period are exposes the occurrence of erosional
processes in the study area irrespective of short-term, long-term, and net seashore association. The similarity in
the erosional values of LRR, EPR, and NSM reveals that the magnitudes of erosional processes are almost
similar in the Arikamedu and Sembiyankandiyur. The positive value of LRR as 9.12 m/year, EPR as 9.83
m/year, and 56.38 m/period indicates simultaneous Progradation in this region. As a whole, it is found that
within the total seashore length of the study area, around 51 km stretch was subjected to accretion. The Presence
of Mangrove swamp and vegetative barriers like Casuarinas, bamboo, etc., along with low coastal process (tide
and wave height) is accountable for the accretion nature of the coast. It is estimated that within the total seashore

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length of the study area, 191 km stretches are subjected to erosion. The shore currents, wind, and waves are also
frequently aiding to the shape of the coastal character to a few extents.

Figure 2 Shoreline change at Arikamedu Site Figure 3 Shoreline Change at Sembiyankandiyur Site

Acknowledgement:
The authors acknowledge the funding support of the Technology Fusion and Application Research (TFAR)
under Frontier & Futuristic Technologies (FFT) Division (Formerly ICPS Division) of the Department of
Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

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