Orme, G. R., and Salama, M. S., 1988. Form and seismic stratigraphy of Halimeda banks in part of the northern Great Barrier
Reef. Coral Reefs, 6(3/4), 131–138.
Phipps, C., Davies, P. J., and Hopley, D., 1985. The morphology of
the Halimeda banks behind the Great Barrier Reef, east of
Cooktown, Queensland. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Coral Reef Symposium, Vol. 3, pp. 27–30.
Phipps, C. V. G., and Roberts, H. H., 1988. Seismic characteristics and accretion history of Halimeda bioherms on
Kalukalukuang Bank, eastern Java Sea (Indonesia). Coral
Reefs, 6, 149–160.
Rees, S. A., Opdyke, B. N., Wilson, P. A., and Henstock,
T. J., 2007. Significance of Halimeda bioherms to the
global carbonate budget based on a geological sediment
budget for the Northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Coral
Reefs, 26(1), 177–188.
Searle, D. F., and Flood, P. G., 1988. Halimeda bioherms of
the Swains reefs – southern Great Barrier Reef. In Proceedings
of Sixth International Coral Reef Symposium, Vol. 3, pp.
139–144.
Wolanski, E. J., Drew, E. A., Abel, K. M., and O’Brien, J., 1988.
Tidal jets, nutrient upwelling and their influence on the productivity of the alga Halimeda in the Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier
Reef. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 26, 169–201.
Cross-references
Bioherms and Biostromes
Great Barrier Reef: Origin, Evolution, and Modern Development
Halimeda
Solution Unconformities
HAWAIIAN EMPEROR VOLCANIC CHAIN AND
CORAL REEF HISTORY
Richard W. Grigg
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
Definition
The palaeoceanography of the Hawaiian Emperor volcanic chain of islands and seamounts and the presence of
coral reefs share an incomplete history. The first known
Hawaiian Island to emerge from the Hawaiian hotspot
was Meiji Guyot approximately 70þ Ma ago. Today,
movement of the Pacific Plate has transported Meiji Guyot
from its original location at approximately 19
north latitude and 157 west longitude almost 6,000 km to the northwest to about 54
north latitude, to a location near the edge
of the juncture of the Kuril and Aleutian trenches, virtually
on the edge of subduction below the Asian Plate
(Figure 1). Unlike all of the islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago today, Meiji Guyot was never surrounded by
a coral reef. Present theory, if correct, holds that the first
half of the Hawaiian Emperor history was devoid of coral
reefs (Grigg, 1988). Several explanations have been
advanced to explain their apparent absence during this
early period of Hawaiian history.
However, before discussing the palaeoceanographic
evidence for the early absence of coral reefs in Hawaii, it
is first important to reiterate the chronological, geographic, and geochemical evidence that shows that all of
the Emperor Seamounts and Hawaiian Islands in the chain
originated from the same hotspot in the North Pacific
(Wilson, 1963; Morgan, 1972). Perhaps the best evidence
for a common origin of the volcanoes over the Hawaiian
hotspot is the continuous age progression (K-Ar radiometric dates) of the volcanic edifices with distance from
Kilauea (location of the present hotspot) (Jackson et al.,
1980, Figure 4). Relatively continuous motion of the
Pacific Plate at about 8 cm/yr over the Hawaiian hotspot
during the last 70þ Ma resulted in the formation of an
almost linear geographic chain of volcanic islands. A bend
in the chain at approximately 43–50 Ma is explained by
a shift in the direction of plate propagation from north to
northwest. The geo-chemical evidence for Hawaiian volcanoes and the Emperor Seamounts also supports the common origin hypothesis. All the lavas exhibit a similar
sequence of eruption (tholeiitic followed by alkalic basalts)
as well as similarities in chemical composition of all the
basalts (Fletcher et al., 2008; Rooney et al., 2008).
The claim that coral reefs were absent in the Hawaiian
chain during the first half of the Tertiary rests on the fossil record of shallow marine organisms in the Hawaiian
Emperor (H-E) Chain today. The oldest reef corals that
have been recovered from dredged limestones and
deep-sea drilling cores in the Emperor Seamounts and
guyots, range between 21 and 34 Ma. The oldest samples
(33 and 34 Ma) are specimens of Porites and Astreopora
from Kanmu and Yuryaku Seamounts (Grigg, 1988). The
biostratigraphy based on cores from the older and more
northern Emperor Seamounts (Ojin, Nintoku, Suiko,
and Meiji) consists primarily of a tropical biofacies of
shallow warm water coralline algae, bryozoa, benthic
foraminifera, ostracods, spirorbids, echinoid spines,
bivalves, and brachiopods, but no reef building corals
(Jackson et al., 1980). Possible causal factors for their
absence could be sampling error, a more northerly position of the palaeo-Hawaiian hotspot, cooler sea-surface
temperatures in the Paleogene, rarity of corals worldwide
in the early Tertiary, or insufficient transport of coral larvae from the Indo-West-Pacific (IWP). While
a combination of these factors could also explain the
early absence of coral reefs in the history of the H-E
chain, the theory that is best supported by the palaeoceanographic history of the Pacific Ocean, is isolation of the
Hawaiian Archipelago from the IWP (Grigg, 1988). All
of the fossil corals and all of the reef corals that exist
in the H-E chain today are IWP in origin, although some
endemism ($25%) has evolved over time.
During the middle Tertiary, a series of gradual palaeoceanographic changes, including closure of the Tethys
Sea, development of thermohaline circulation, isolation
of Antarctica, and intensification of latitudinal temperature gradients are believed to have combined to intensify
gyral circulation in the North Pacific Ocean (Kennett,
1982). As a result, the Kuroshio Current in the Western
Pacific and the Subtropical Counter Current would have
HAWAIIAN EMPEROR VOLCANIC CHAIN AND CORAL REEF HISTORY
549
Reef. Coral Reefs, 6(3/4), 131–138.
Phipps, C., Davies, P. J., and Hopley, D., 1985. The morphology of
the Halimeda banks behind the Great Barrier Reef, east of
Cooktown, Queensland. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Coral Reef Symposium, Vol. 3, pp. 27–30.
Phipps, C. V. G., and Roberts, H. H., 1988. Seismic characteristics and accretion history of Halimeda bioherms on
Kalukalukuang Bank, eastern Java Sea (Indonesia). Coral
Reefs, 6, 149–160.
Rees, S. A., Opdyke, B. N., Wilson, P. A., and Henstock,
T. J., 2007. Significance of Halimeda bioherms to the
global carbonate budget based on a geological sediment
budget for the Northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Coral
Reefs, 26(1), 177–188.
Searle, D. F., and Flood, P. G., 1988. Halimeda bioherms of
the Swains reefs – southern Great Barrier Reef. In Proceedings
of Sixth International Coral Reef Symposium, Vol. 3, pp.
139–144.
Wolanski, E. J., Drew, E. A., Abel, K. M., and O’Brien, J., 1988.
Tidal jets, nutrient upwelling and their influence on the productivity of the alga Halimeda in the Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier
Reef. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 26, 169–201.
Cross-references
Bioherms and Biostromes
Great Barrier Reef: Origin, Evolution, and Modern Development
Halimeda
Solution Unconformities
HAWAIIAN EMPEROR VOLCANIC CHAIN AND
CORAL REEF HISTORY
Richard W. Grigg
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
Definition
The palaeoceanography of the Hawaiian Emperor volcanic chain of islands and seamounts and the presence of
coral reefs share an incomplete history. The first known
Hawaiian Island to emerge from the Hawaiian hotspot
was Meiji Guyot approximately 70þ Ma ago. Today,
movement of the Pacific Plate has transported Meiji Guyot
from its original location at approximately 19
north latitude and 157 west longitude almost 6,000 km to the northwest to about 54
north latitude, to a location near the edge
of the juncture of the Kuril and Aleutian trenches, virtually
on the edge of subduction below the Asian Plate
(Figure 1). Unlike all of the islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago today, Meiji Guyot was never surrounded by
a coral reef. Present theory, if correct, holds that the first
half of the Hawaiian Emperor history was devoid of coral
reefs (Grigg, 1988). Several explanations have been
advanced to explain their apparent absence during this
early period of Hawaiian history.
However, before discussing the palaeoceanographic
evidence for the early absence of coral reefs in Hawaii, it
is first important to reiterate the chronological, geographic, and geochemical evidence that shows that all of
the Emperor Seamounts and Hawaiian Islands in the chain
originated from the same hotspot in the North Pacific
(Wilson, 1963; Morgan, 1972). Perhaps the best evidence
for a common origin of the volcanoes over the Hawaiian
hotspot is the continuous age progression (K-Ar radiometric dates) of the volcanic edifices with distance from
Kilauea (location of the present hotspot) (Jackson et al.,
1980, Figure 4). Relatively continuous motion of the
Pacific Plate at about 8 cm/yr over the Hawaiian hotspot
during the last 70þ Ma resulted in the formation of an
almost linear geographic chain of volcanic islands. A bend
in the chain at approximately 43–50 Ma is explained by
a shift in the direction of plate propagation from north to
northwest. The geo-chemical evidence for Hawaiian volcanoes and the Emperor Seamounts also supports the common origin hypothesis. All the lavas exhibit a similar
sequence of eruption (tholeiitic followed by alkalic basalts)
as well as similarities in chemical composition of all the
basalts (Fletcher et al., 2008; Rooney et al., 2008).
The claim that coral reefs were absent in the Hawaiian
chain during the first half of the Tertiary rests on the fossil record of shallow marine organisms in the Hawaiian
Emperor (H-E) Chain today. The oldest reef corals that
have been recovered from dredged limestones and
deep-sea drilling cores in the Emperor Seamounts and
guyots, range between 21 and 34 Ma. The oldest samples
(33 and 34 Ma) are specimens of Porites and Astreopora
from Kanmu and Yuryaku Seamounts (Grigg, 1988). The
biostratigraphy based on cores from the older and more
northern Emperor Seamounts (Ojin, Nintoku, Suiko,
and Meiji) consists primarily of a tropical biofacies of
shallow warm water coralline algae, bryozoa, benthic
foraminifera, ostracods, spirorbids, echinoid spines,
bivalves, and brachiopods, but no reef building corals
(Jackson et al., 1980). Possible causal factors for their
absence could be sampling error, a more northerly position of the palaeo-Hawaiian hotspot, cooler sea-surface
temperatures in the Paleogene, rarity of corals worldwide
in the early Tertiary, or insufficient transport of coral larvae from the Indo-West-Pacific (IWP). While
a combination of these factors could also explain the
early absence of coral reefs in the history of the H-E
chain, the theory that is best supported by the palaeoceanographic history of the Pacific Ocean, is isolation of the
Hawaiian Archipelago from the IWP (Grigg, 1988). All
of the fossil corals and all of the reef corals that exist
in the H-E chain today are IWP in origin, although some
endemism ($25%) has evolved over time.
During the middle Tertiary, a series of gradual palaeoceanographic changes, including closure of the Tethys
Sea, development of thermohaline circulation, isolation
of Antarctica, and intensification of latitudinal temperature gradients are believed to have combined to intensify
gyral circulation in the North Pacific Ocean (Kennett,
1982). As a result, the Kuroshio Current in the Western
Pacific and the Subtropical Counter Current would have
HAWAIIAN EMPEROR VOLCANIC CHAIN AND CORAL REEF HISTORY
549