[Coral-List] Corals and Sea Level Rise

Dennis Hubbard dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu
Thu Sep 18 16:13:08 EDT 2014


Thanks Clifford:

I am a bit confused by the terminology your posting. Please define what you
mean by "growth rate" (is this reefs or coral?). Likewise, what
specifically do you mean by "height of the reef" (elevation above or below
sea level, topographic expression)? As I understand your comment based
solely on Webster's Dictionary, you appear to be saying that
reefs/corals(?) grow slowly only when the reef is at some "optimal height".
I simply don't understand what you are saying, but the two parts of the
statement seem conflicting based on my reading. . If you can expand on the
terms and try to make the relationship you are proposing clearer, I would
be happy to try and respond.

Best,

Dennis

On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 8:30 PM, Clifford J. Hearn <clifford_hearn at yahoo.com
> wrote:

> Denis, I am sure that you and your co-authors are absolutely wrong in your
> assertion that reef islands cannot keep up with the present slow increase
> in sea level rise. One of the faults in your argument is that you ignored
> the fact that the growth rate (or decay rate) is highly non-linear and
> dependent on the height of the reef (which varies tidally every day of the
> year); it only reaches the minimal mean rates that you quote when that mean
> height is optimal for the coral.
>
> Clifford J Hearn
> Working Science Consultants
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>



-- 
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"


More information about the Coral-List mailing list