Definition
The subsidence hypothesis of coral reef development was proposed by Charles Darwin and was formulated during his voyage on the Beagle. It envisaged that fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls represent successive stages in an evolutionary sequence.
Introduction
In a remarkable deduction, Charles Darwin proposed that different types of coral reef observed in mid ocean came about through the subsidence of underlying volcanic foundations. He envisaged that fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls represented different stages as a result of vertical growth of reefs on subsiding basements. Subsequent drilling has provided support for this idea, which can be integrated into plate tectonic theory, and can also accommodate many factors associated with changes in sea level.
Darwin’s insight into atoll formation
At the time of Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, it was unclear how atolls had formed. A widely accepted view was that advanced by Charles Lyell who had proposed, in his Princ...
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Woodroffe, C.D. (2011). Subsidence Hypothesis of Reef Development. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_29
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