The Origin of Coral Reefs 1

Abstract

II. THE most detailed investigation of coral-reefs which has yet appeared has just been published by Prof. A. Agassiz.2 This able naturalist is engaged in prosecuting a series of researches into the biological phenomena of the seas on the eastern side of the United States, under the auspices of the United States Coast Survey, and in the course of these explorations he has had occasion to devote himself to the detailed study of the coral-reefs of the Florida seas. For purposes of comparison he has likewise visited the reefs among the West Indian Islands, as well as those on the coast of Central America. His observations are thus the most exhaustive and methodical which have yet been published, and the deliberate conclusions to which he has come deserve the most attentive consideration. He traces the history of a coral-reef from its latest stages as dry land to its earliest beginnings, and even beyond these to the gradual evolution of the conditions requisite for the first starting of the reef. His familiarity with the nature of the bottom all over the area in question, and with the life so abundant in the tropical waters, gives him a peculiar advantage in this inquiry. The upheaval of recent coral-formations to considerable heights above the sea in various parts of the region enabled him to examine the inner structure and foundations of the reefs, and to obtain therefrom altogether new data for the solution of the problem. Following him in his induction we are led back to a comparatively recent geological period, when the site of the peninsula of Florida was gradually upraised into a long swell or ridge, having its axis in a general north and south direction, sinking gently towards the south, but prolonged under the sea as a submarine ridge. The date of this elevation is approximately fixed by the fact that the Vicksburg limestone was upraised by it, and this limestone is assigned to the Upper Eocene series. As a consequence of the elevation, a portion of the sea-bottom was brought well up into the waters of the Gulf Stream, which were probably shifted a little eastward.