[Coral-List] A controversy of "Great durability" (Darwin was wrong?)

[Douglas Fenner]

Good one.  I think one of our problems is that sometimes we think it has to
be one or the other, that they are mutually exclusive.  Likely they were
originally presented that way.  But surely these processes can occur
together.  Sea level affects coral reefs, just as subsidence does.  I
suggest they are not mutually exclusive.
      I have the same feeling about the arguments about top-down control
and bottom-up control of algae.  Surely, both nutrients and herbivory
affect algae populations, don't they??  In different locations, one may be
more important than the other, or vice versa.
      Can't we think more broadly than considering these things as mutually
exclusive??
Cheers, Doug

On Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 6:44 AM Bill Allison via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hello All,
> I happened to come across this relevant observation today as I delved into
> the older literature about atoll island groundwater.
>
> "The geological problem of the origin of coral reefs and atolls has been
> one of recurrent interest and great durability, commencing with the famous
> subsidence theory of Darwin (1837). Both geologists and biologists in the
> century since Darwin's publication have accumulated facts according to
> their opportunities and contributed to the discussion. Several divergent
> theories have been developed including Semper's lagoon-solution theory,
> Daly's glacial control theory, and the antecedent-platform theory invoked
> by Ladd and Hoffmeister, with the greater number of Workers supporting
> either the subsidence or the glacial-control theory. *In recent years it
> has become apparent that for the various observed conditions no single
> answer may be sufficient, and that the merits of the leading hypotheses
> vary according to the age of the atoll and its location.*" (My bold)
>
> Cox, Doak C., Davis, Dan A., and Wentworth, Chester K. 1951. "Geology and
> ground water of atolls." Atoll Research Bulletin. 2:3–4, p.3.
> https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/34027
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