Coral Reefs: the Evolution
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JOHN W. JUDD.
CORAL-REEFS.
INTRODUCTION.
(PLATE: UNTITLED WOODCUT, WHITSUNDAY ATOLL.)
(PLATE: UNTITLED WOODCUT, REEF AT BOLABOLA ISLAND.)
(DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
PLATE I.—MAP SHOWING THE RESEMBLANCE IN FORM BETWEEN BARRIER CORAL-REEFS SURROUNDING MOUNTAINOUS ISLANDS, AND ATOLLS OR LAGOON ISLANDS.)
CHAPTER I.—ATOLLS OR LAGOON-ISLANDS.
SECTION 1.I.—KEELING ATOLL.
(PLATE: UNTITLED WOODCUT, VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH KEELING ATOLL.)
SECTION 1.II.—GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ATOLLS.
(DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
PLATE II.—GREAT CHAGOS BANK, NEW CALEDONIA,MENCHIKOFF ATOLL, ETC.
SECTION 1.III.—ATOLLS OF THE MALDIVA ARCHIPELAGO—GREAT CHAGOS BANK.
CHAPTER II.—BARRIER REEFS.
(PLATE: UNNAMED, THREE VERTICAL SECTIONS (WOODCUT DIAGRAMS):
CHAPTER III.—FRINGING OR SHORE-REEFS.
CHAPTER IV.—ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND GROWTH OF CORAL-REEFS.
SECTION 4.I.—ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS, AND ON THE CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE TO THEIR INCREASE.
SECTION 4.II.—ON THE RATE OF GROWTH OF CORAL-REEFS.
SECTION 4.III.—ON THE DEPTHS AT WHICH REEF-BUILDING POLYPIFERS CAN LIVE.
CHAPTER V.—THEORY OF THE FORMATION OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF CORAL-REEFS.
(PLATE: WOODCUT NO. 4.
PLATE: WOODCUT NO. 5.
STEP-FORMED LEDGES ROUND CERTAIN LAGOONS.
THE RING OR BASIN-FORMED REEFS OF THE NORTHERN MALDIVA ATOLLS.
SUBMERGED AND DEAD REEFS.
THE DISSEVERMENT OF THE LARGER MALDIVA ATOLLS.
IRREGULARLY FORMED ATOLLS.
THE GREAT CHAGOS BANK.
OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY OF THE FORMATION OF ATOLLS AND BARRIER-REEFS.
CHAPTER VI.—ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS WITH REFERENCE TO THE THEORY OF THEIR FORMATION.
(DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
PLATE III.—MAP SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS AND ACTIVE VOLCANOES.
ON THE GROUPING OF THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF REEFS.
ON THE DIRECT EVIDENCE OF THE BLUE SPACES IN THE MAP HAVING SUBSIDED DURING THE UPWARD GROWTH OF THE REEFS SO COLOURED, AND OF THE RED SPACES HAVING REMAINED STATIONARY, OR HAVING BEEN UPRAISED.
ON THE ABSENCE OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN THE AREAS OF SUBSIDENCE, AND ON THEIR FREQUENT PRESENCE IN THE AREAS OF ELEVATION.
ON THE RELATIONS OF THE AREAS OF SUBSIDENCE AND ELEVATION.
RECAPITULATION.
APPENDIX.
CONTAINING A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE REEFS AND ISLANDS IN PLATE III.
THE LOW ARCHIPELAGO.
MENDANA OR MARQUESAS GROUP.
COOK OR HARVEY AND AUSTRAL ISLAND.
ISLANDS BETWEEN THE LOW AND GILBERT ARCHIPELAGOES.
ISLANDS SOUTH OF THE SANDWICH ARCHIPELAGO.
SANDWICH ARCHIPELAGO.
SAMOA OR NAVIGATOR GROUP.
FRIENDLY ARCHIPELAGO.
ELLICE GROUP.
GILBERT GROUP.
MARSHALL GROUP.
NEW HEBRIDES.
SANTA CRUZ GROUP.
NEW CALEDONIA.
AUSTRALIAN BARRIER-REEF.
LOUISIADE.
SOLOMON ARCHIPELAGO.
NEW IRELAND.
NEW BRITAIN AND THE NORTHERN SHORE OF NEW GUINEA.
ADMIRALTY GROUP.
WESTERN PART OF THE CAROLINE ARCHIPELAGO.
PELEW ISLANDS.
BONIN OR ARZOBISPO GROUP.
WEST END OF NEW GUINEA.
CERAM.
ISLANDS NEAR TIMOR.
N.W. COAST OF AUSTRALIA.
JAVA.
MACASSAR STRAIT.
SUMATRA.
NICOBAR ISLANDS.
ANDAMAN ISLANDS.
PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO.
BABUYAN ISLANDS.
INDIAN OCEAN.
CHAGOS, MALDIVA, AND LACCADIVE ARCHIPELAGOES.
SEYCHELLES.
COMORO GROUP.
MADAGASCAR.
EAST COAST OF AFRICA.
PERSIAN GULF.
RED SEA.
THE WEST COAST OF THE RED SEA BETWEEN LATITUDE 19 DEG AND 22 DEG.
THE WEST COAST FROM LATITUDE 22 DEG TO 24 DEG.
EASTERN COAST.
WEST INDIES.
YUCUTAN.
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About the author
Charles Robert Darwin ( 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.
Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.
Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College) encouraged his passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations and in 1838 conceived his theory of natural selection. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories. Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history; he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
