Reef madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the meaning of coral.

Wood, R. A. (2005) Reef madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the meaning of coral. Nature, 435. 25, 27. DOI 10.1038/435025a

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Abstract

Reefs have long fascinated natural historians and geologists for their unearthly beauty, as well as their ability to produce prodigious amounts of carbonate sediment. Yet reefs offer more than their share of paradoxes. How do coral-reef islands seemingly grow from great depths in the middle of the oceans? What controls the production of all this limestone? And why do so many reefs form necklaces strung across the Pacific? These questions troubled the minds of nineteenth-century scientists and philosophers. The long, tortured and often sad history of how the ‘coral reef problem’ was finally solved is laid bare in this eloquent and thoughtful book.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2005 AREP 2005 P IA48
Subjects:	04 - Palaeobiology
Divisions:	04 - Palaeobiology
Journal or Publication Title:	Nature
Volume:	435
Page Range:	25, 27
Identification Number:	10.1038/435025a
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2010 13:39
Last Modified:	23 Jul 2013 10:00
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/1882

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