CORAL REEFS
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peditions led by Professor Sollas Of Oxford and Professor
Sir Edgewoith David of Sydney, were sent out under the
auspices of the British Association about the end of the last
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century
The object of these expeditions was -to make
borings through the atoll of Funafuti,. one of the Elh‘ce
Islands in the middle of the Pacic.
They succeeded after
much hard work in boring through the atoll to a depth of
1,114 feet.. The core of this bore was carefully preserved
and brought to this country.where it was examined from
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end to end by scientists in order to nd 0ut what it was
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composed of and, most important of all, whether it was
formed throughout of coral limestone or whether that
Was succee‘ded by some different material in the lowest layers.:
This examination showed that the bore was composed
throughout of the one substance, coral limestone, and this
Was at once claimed by
of the Darwin theory
as a vindication of their views.
But—now enters a complica—
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tion for, without denying that the” bore was ;,COmposed
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througho'utîof rock ofceral origin, Murray and his adherents
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stated that this was due to the fact that the bore, instead
of going through the centre of the reef, had been made
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through the edge and so had passed thr0ughthe talus
of
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coral fragmentswhjch had broken oñ the edge of the growing
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reef and fallen into deepWater.
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And there the matter very largely rests.
,
Probably both
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theories are correct for certain cases and there is no
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universally applicable explanation of the formation of
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coral reefs
‘The whole point, as we hope has been made
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perfectlÿclea'r, is, the way in which the conditions—very
clearly dened and weH—known—necessarŸ for the growth
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,
of corals are provided. Before we close this chapter,
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however, a short reference must be
a more recent
theory put forward by Professor Daly of
and
,
which, whatever the amount of truth it contains; is of "
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