During greenhouse times, with little global ice, reef
sequences were generated by small sea-level fluctuations.
Reef cycles typically consist of very shallow-water facies,
with regional-scale tidal flat caps and minor disconformities. Greenhouse reefs are often either compound or
progradational as reef growth could easily match or
outpace the fastest rates of sea-level rise. Ramps often
have very low gradients, and platforms tend to be
progradational, with minor topography. Greenhouse reefs
can also have a more extensive range as carbonate settings
extend into higher latitudes due to elevated global temperatures. Composition may also be more uniform, often
dominated by low-Mg calcite skeletal components.
Biological disturbance, that is bioturbation, boring, and
excavatory predation and herbivory, has clearly escalated
since the Mesozoic. Reef biotas have responded with the
proliferation of traits with proven anti-predatory benefits,
particularly regeneration after partial mortality. Indeed
some modern dominant reef taxa, such as branching corals
and coralline algae, appear not only to thrive, but actually
require conditions of considerable disturbance for their
survival in shallow tropical seas (Wood, 1999, 2002).
Many modern reefs are largely reduced to rubble and
sand via physical abrasion and bioerosion. Modern coral
reefs are also dominated by branching forms due to their
high diversity and abundance, propensity to proliferate
via fragmentation, and resilience to taphonomic destruction. Many reefs prior to the Jurassic show the preservation
of intact, in situ frameworks. Most epibenthic, softsediment dwelling organisms typical of Paleozoic reefs
appear to have become largely absent from shallow marine
tropical reef biotas during the late Paleozoic to early
Mesozoic, perhaps due to intolerance of the rise of deep
burrowing taxa and excavatory attack (Wood, 2010).
Scleractinian corals, in particular branching taxa, show
a marked increase in the proportion of forms with complex
modularity from the Eocene onward, even though corals
displayed the full range of morphological forms and
corallite size by the Late Triassic. Highly defended, thick
crusts in coralline algae become more dominant, and
branching forms also become noticeably less conspicuous
on reefs from the Eocene onward. This major reorganization of the coral reef ecosystem coincides with the rapid
appearance and radiation of herbivorous and coral-eating
reef fish, but this remain to be tested experimentally
(Wood, 2002).
Bibliography
Ahr, W. M., Harris, P. M., Morgan, W. A., and Somerville, W. A.
(eds.), 2003. Permo-carboniferous carbonate platforms and
reefs. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.
Special Publication, 78, 414pp.
Bellwood, D. R., 1996. Coral reef crunchers. Nature Australia,
25(4), 48–55.
Bellwood, D. R., 1997. Reef fish biogeography; habitat associations, fossils and phylogenies. Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, Panama, 1, 379–384.
Bellwood, D. R., and Schulz, O., 1991. A review of the fossil record
of the parrotfishes (family Scaridae) with a description of a new
Calatomus species from the middle Miocene (Badenian) of Austria. Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, 92, 55–71.
Budd, A. F., and Kievman, C. M., 1994. Coral assemblages and reef
environments in the Bahamas Drilling Project cores. In Final
Draft Report of the Bahamas Drilling Project, 3. Coral Gables,
Florida: Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science,
University of Miami.
Budd, A. F., Stemann, T. A., and Johnson, K. G., 1994. Stratigraphic
distribution of genera and species of Neogene to Recent Caribbean reef corals. Journal of Paleontology, 68, 951–977.
Coates, A. G., and Jackson, J. B. C., 1985. Morphological themes
in the evolution of clonal and aclonal marine invertebrates. In
Jackson, J. B. C., Buss, L. W., and Cook, R. E. (eds.), Population
Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. New Haven: Yale
University Press, pp. 67–106.
Embry, A. F., and Klovan, J. E., 1971. A late Devonian reef tract on
Northeastern Banks Island, Northwest Territories. Bulletin of
Canadian Petroleum Geology, 19, 730–781.
Fagerstrom, J. A., 1987. The Evolution of Reef Communities.
New York: Wiley, 600pp.
Fischer, A. G., 1982. Long-term climatic scillations recorded in stratigraphy. In Berger, W. (ed.), Climate in Earth History, National
Research Council, Studies in Geophysics. Washington DC:
National Academy Press, pp. 97–104.
Freiwald, A., and Roberts, J. M. (eds.), 2005. Coral-Water Corals
and Ecosystems. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, 1243pp.
Geldsetzer, H. H. J., James, N. P., and Tebbutt, G. E., 1988. Reefs,
Canada and adjacent areas. Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists, Memoir, 13, 775p.
Grotzinger, J. P., and James, N. P. (eds.), 2000. Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis In The Evolving Precambrian World, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Special
Publication, 65. (see introduction – Grotzinger, J. P., and James,
N. P., Precambrian Carbonates: Evolution of Understanding,
pp.1–20).
Harper, E. M., and Skelton, P. W., 1993. The Mesozoic Marine Revolution and epifaunal bivalves. Scripta Geologica (Special
Issue), 2, 127–153.
Jackson, J. B. C., and McKinney, F. K., 1991. Ecological processes
and progressive macroevolution of marine clonal benthos. In
Ross, R. M., and Allmon, W. D. (eds.), Causes of Evolution.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 173–209.
James, N. P., 1983. Reef environment. In Scholle, P. A., Bebout,
D. G., and Moore, C. H. (eds.), Memoir. Vol. 33, pp. 345–440.
James, N. P., and Bourque, P.-A., 1992. Reefs and mounds. In
Walker, R. G., and James, N. P. (eds.), Facies Models, Response
to Sea Level Change. St. John’s Newfoundland: Geological
Association of Canada, pp. 323–347.
James, N. P., and Wood, R., 2010. Reefs. In Dalrymple, R., and
James, N. P. (eds.), Facies Models; Response to Sea Level Change.
St Johns Newfoundland: Geological Association of Canada.
Kiessling, W., Aberhan, M., and Villier, L., 2008. Phanerozoic
trends in skeletal mineralogy driven my mass extinctions. Nature
Geoscience, 1, 527–530.
Kiessling, W., Flugel, E., and Golonka, J. (eds.), 2002. Phanerozoic
reef patterns. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Special Publication, 72, 775pp.
Kleypas, J. A., Buddemeier, R. W., Archer, D., Gattuso, J. -P.,
Langdon, D., and Opdyke, B. N., 1999. Geochemical consequences of increased atmospheric CO 2 on coral reefs. Science,
284, 118–120.
Krumm, D. K., and Jones, D. S., 1993. A new coral-bivalve association (Actinastrea-Lithophaga) from the Eocene of Florida.
Journal of Paleontologists, 67, 945–951.
Martín, J. M., Braga, J. C., and Riding, R., 1997. Late Miocene
Halimeda alga-microbial segment reefs in the marginal
Mediterranian Sorbas Basin, Spain: Sedimentology, 44, 441–456.
468
GENERAL EVOLUTION OF CARBONATE REEFS
sequences were generated by small sea-level fluctuations.
Reef cycles typically consist of very shallow-water facies,
with regional-scale tidal flat caps and minor disconformities. Greenhouse reefs are often either compound or
progradational as reef growth could easily match or
outpace the fastest rates of sea-level rise. Ramps often
have very low gradients, and platforms tend to be
progradational, with minor topography. Greenhouse reefs
can also have a more extensive range as carbonate settings
extend into higher latitudes due to elevated global temperatures. Composition may also be more uniform, often
dominated by low-Mg calcite skeletal components.
Biological disturbance, that is bioturbation, boring, and
excavatory predation and herbivory, has clearly escalated
since the Mesozoic. Reef biotas have responded with the
proliferation of traits with proven anti-predatory benefits,
particularly regeneration after partial mortality. Indeed
some modern dominant reef taxa, such as branching corals
and coralline algae, appear not only to thrive, but actually
require conditions of considerable disturbance for their
survival in shallow tropical seas (Wood, 1999, 2002).
Many modern reefs are largely reduced to rubble and
sand via physical abrasion and bioerosion. Modern coral
reefs are also dominated by branching forms due to their
high diversity and abundance, propensity to proliferate
via fragmentation, and resilience to taphonomic destruction. Many reefs prior to the Jurassic show the preservation
of intact, in situ frameworks. Most epibenthic, softsediment dwelling organisms typical of Paleozoic reefs
appear to have become largely absent from shallow marine
tropical reef biotas during the late Paleozoic to early
Mesozoic, perhaps due to intolerance of the rise of deep
burrowing taxa and excavatory attack (Wood, 2010).
Scleractinian corals, in particular branching taxa, show
a marked increase in the proportion of forms with complex
modularity from the Eocene onward, even though corals
displayed the full range of morphological forms and
corallite size by the Late Triassic. Highly defended, thick
crusts in coralline algae become more dominant, and
branching forms also become noticeably less conspicuous
on reefs from the Eocene onward. This major reorganization of the coral reef ecosystem coincides with the rapid
appearance and radiation of herbivorous and coral-eating
reef fish, but this remain to be tested experimentally
(Wood, 2002).
Bibliography
Ahr, W. M., Harris, P. M., Morgan, W. A., and Somerville, W. A.
(eds.), 2003. Permo-carboniferous carbonate platforms and
reefs. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.
Special Publication, 78, 414pp.
Bellwood, D. R., 1996. Coral reef crunchers. Nature Australia,
25(4), 48–55.
Bellwood, D. R., 1997. Reef fish biogeography; habitat associations, fossils and phylogenies. Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, Panama, 1, 379–384.
Bellwood, D. R., and Schulz, O., 1991. A review of the fossil record
of the parrotfishes (family Scaridae) with a description of a new
Calatomus species from the middle Miocene (Badenian) of Austria. Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, 92, 55–71.
Budd, A. F., and Kievman, C. M., 1994. Coral assemblages and reef
environments in the Bahamas Drilling Project cores. In Final
Draft Report of the Bahamas Drilling Project, 3. Coral Gables,
Florida: Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science,
University of Miami.
Budd, A. F., Stemann, T. A., and Johnson, K. G., 1994. Stratigraphic
distribution of genera and species of Neogene to Recent Caribbean reef corals. Journal of Paleontology, 68, 951–977.
Coates, A. G., and Jackson, J. B. C., 1985. Morphological themes
in the evolution of clonal and aclonal marine invertebrates. In
Jackson, J. B. C., Buss, L. W., and Cook, R. E. (eds.), Population
Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. New Haven: Yale
University Press, pp. 67–106.
Embry, A. F., and Klovan, J. E., 1971. A late Devonian reef tract on
Northeastern Banks Island, Northwest Territories. Bulletin of
Canadian Petroleum Geology, 19, 730–781.
Fagerstrom, J. A., 1987. The Evolution of Reef Communities.
New York: Wiley, 600pp.
Fischer, A. G., 1982. Long-term climatic scillations recorded in stratigraphy. In Berger, W. (ed.), Climate in Earth History, National
Research Council, Studies in Geophysics. Washington DC:
National Academy Press, pp. 97–104.
Freiwald, A., and Roberts, J. M. (eds.), 2005. Coral-Water Corals
and Ecosystems. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, 1243pp.
Geldsetzer, H. H. J., James, N. P., and Tebbutt, G. E., 1988. Reefs,
Canada and adjacent areas. Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists, Memoir, 13, 775p.
Grotzinger, J. P., and James, N. P. (eds.), 2000. Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis In The Evolving Precambrian World, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Special
Publication, 65. (see introduction – Grotzinger, J. P., and James,
N. P., Precambrian Carbonates: Evolution of Understanding,
pp.1–20).
Harper, E. M., and Skelton, P. W., 1993. The Mesozoic Marine Revolution and epifaunal bivalves. Scripta Geologica (Special
Issue), 2, 127–153.
Jackson, J. B. C., and McKinney, F. K., 1991. Ecological processes
and progressive macroevolution of marine clonal benthos. In
Ross, R. M., and Allmon, W. D. (eds.), Causes of Evolution.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 173–209.
James, N. P., 1983. Reef environment. In Scholle, P. A., Bebout,
D. G., and Moore, C. H. (eds.), Memoir. Vol. 33, pp. 345–440.
James, N. P., and Bourque, P.-A., 1992. Reefs and mounds. In
Walker, R. G., and James, N. P. (eds.), Facies Models, Response
to Sea Level Change. St. John’s Newfoundland: Geological
Association of Canada, pp. 323–347.
James, N. P., and Wood, R., 2010. Reefs. In Dalrymple, R., and
James, N. P. (eds.), Facies Models; Response to Sea Level Change.
St Johns Newfoundland: Geological Association of Canada.
Kiessling, W., Aberhan, M., and Villier, L., 2008. Phanerozoic
trends in skeletal mineralogy driven my mass extinctions. Nature
Geoscience, 1, 527–530.
Kiessling, W., Flugel, E., and Golonka, J. (eds.), 2002. Phanerozoic
reef patterns. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Special Publication, 72, 775pp.
Kleypas, J. A., Buddemeier, R. W., Archer, D., Gattuso, J. -P.,
Langdon, D., and Opdyke, B. N., 1999. Geochemical consequences of increased atmospheric CO 2 on coral reefs. Science,
284, 118–120.
Krumm, D. K., and Jones, D. S., 1993. A new coral-bivalve association (Actinastrea-Lithophaga) from the Eocene of Florida.
Journal of Paleontologists, 67, 945–951.
Martín, J. M., Braga, J. C., and Riding, R., 1997. Late Miocene
Halimeda alga-microbial segment reefs in the marginal
Mediterranian Sorbas Basin, Spain: Sedimentology, 44, 441–456.
468
GENERAL EVOLUTION OF CARBONATE REEFS