The Formation of Coral Reefs

Abstract

MR. SCHWARZ, as far as I understand him, questions the effects, if any, of submarine erosion and the necessity for any view except that of subsidence to explain the formation of coral reefs. I fail to see the parallel between the west coast of Italy and the Maldives, but it is obvious that wherever submarine currents exist there must be erosion, its extent depending on their force, &c. I would refer Mr. Schwarz to the detailed work on currents and the effects of organisms in my full paper on the Maldive and Laccadive Archipelagoes in the “Fauna and Geography of the Maldives and Laccadives.” He will find there certain references, but in the same connection he should read Prof. Agassiz's numerous papers issued from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, and Prof. Max Weber's and Captain Tydeman's reports on the Siboga Expedition.