A Year on the Great Barrier Reef: the Story of Corals and of the Greatest of their Creations

Abstract

THE Great Barrier Reef is one of “the wonders of the world”, a breakwater built by living organisms extending along 1200 miles of the Queensland coast. Its seaward edge varies from 10 to more than 100 miles from the shore, and the barrier is an almost continuous line in the northern half, giving place to a series of isolated reefs to the south. On this barrier there are few islets, but the lagoon within is sparsely dotted with sand cays, on one of which, Low Island, Dr. Yonge's expedition made its camp. The continental coast behind varies, being in many parts high and cliffed, and having off-lying islets of volcanic or granitic rock. Many parts of it have been carefully surveyed in recent years by Prof. Richards and his pupils. A bore was also sunk to 600 feet on an islet situated about the middle of the Barrier, but only coral fragments and sand of the regular reef types were obtained. Adherents of each theory of coral reef formation have in turn used the Barrier in support of their views, and this divergence of opinion was a clear indication of the need for further research upon the actual building organisms. A Year on the Great Barrier Reef: the Story of Corals and of the Greatest of their Creations. Dr. C. M. Yonge. Pp. xx + 246 + 70 plates. (London and New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1930.) 21s. net.