[Coral-List] Atoll good news

[Eugene Shinn]

I would like to alert readers of two interesting peer reviewed article 
in the current issue of GEOLOGY.

The first article on page 503 listed below demonstrates that Vakkaru 
Island, an atoll carbonate sand island in the Maldives is mainly 
composed of Parrotfish poop. Authors catalogued sand components and 
accessed amount of carbonate sand Parrot fish generate by munching 
surrounding reef at 5.7 kg / m^2 each year. Storms transport this sand 
onto the island in the center of the atoll.Parrotfish are mainly 
responsible for the islands existence. One can only speculate that the 
dozens of other similar islands in the Maldives chain have similar origins.

The Second article on page 515 concludes that Funafuti atoll in the 
central Pacific has experienced some of the highest rates of sea level 
rise over the past 60 years (5.1 plus or minus 0.7mm/year). No evidence 
of heightened erosion of islands over the past half century while sea 
level rise has accelerated and none of the islands have disappeared. 
That’s good news for the islands residents. Gene

1.C.T. Perry et al., 2015, Linking reef ecology to island building: 
Parrotfish identified as major producers of island-building sediment in 
the Maldives. Geology v. 43 no 6. P. 503-506.

2.P. S. Kench et al. 2015, Coral islands defy sea-level rise over the 
past century: Records from a central Pacific atoll. Geology v. 43, no.6. 
p. 515-518.

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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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