Toomey et al. (2013) - atoll formation

Question 1

What reveals that a wide variety of reef forms found in modern systems (in particular uplifted terraces and drowned barrier reefs) cannot be explained by Darwin’s subsidence model alone?

Answer 1

Subsidence control is consistent with the progression of reef types with increasing island age and subsidence in the Society Islands (South Pacific, Figs. 1D–1G), but cannot explain the variety of reefs found in the Hawaiian Islands

Question 2

What is the primary control on the development of coral reefs over the time scales of glacial cycles?

Answer 2

The vertical rate of reef accretion, the integrated effect of coral growth, local production of detritus, and lithification.

Question 3

Coral growth rate, and thus reef accretion rate, is a decreasing function of…

Answer 3

Water depth (a proxy for reduced light intensity, which limits photosynthesis by coral’s symbiotic algae).