Abstract
WITH reference to Captain Moore's two difficulties, I have to say:—(1) The position of banks around islands depends, in my opinion, on the nature of the rocks; loose material, or easily disintegrated rock, may be found either on the lee or weather side of an island. There are many examples of these banks in all positions around islands where there are no coral reefs. (2) I do not think it is the case that corals reach the surface simultaneously on all sides. What Captain Moore refers to as sunken reefs is good evidence that they do not. The great uniformity in the breadth of the reefs in some regions is, according to my view, due to the play between the forces secreting and depositing carbonate of lime, and those engaged in its disintegration and solution whenever the organisms have died. Reefs are very often non-continuous, as Captain Moore himself points out in the case of the Barrier Reef of Australia. This, too, I have explained in the same way, but taking into account local conditions. I cannot admit Captain Moore's supposition about the filling up of the lagoon around Solo, nor his explanation of the bank to the west of Ono. I have no charts with me here, so cannot at present refer to the other illustrations he has given.
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MURRAY, J. Coral Reefs. Nature 40, 294 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040294a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040294a0
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