The Origin of Coral Reefs

Abstract

REGARDING this interesting geological problem, which has recently been discussed in NATURE, we are enabled through the kindness of Mr. Murray, of the Challenger Commission, to publish a letter which has been addressed to him by Dr. Guppy from the Pacific. The importance of this communication will be recognised in the confirmation it supplies of the inference that coral reefs start upon a platform of limestone composed of the remains of foraminifera, &c., and are themselves of no great thickness. Dr. Guppy will no doubt continue his researches, and we may hope to obtain from him precise data regarding the average thickness of the coral rock, the lithological difference between it and the underlying limestone, the structure of the limestone, whether any succession of organisms can be detected in it, and whether at any point the underlying volcanic rock can be seen which would afford a measurement of the thickness of the calcareous deposits. The effects of denudation and their relation to height above the sea will no doubt also receive his attention.