Alternate Theory of Atoll Formation

[driftwood]

Darwin thought that atolls formed around volcanoes which subsequently eroded leaving the ring formations we are familiar with.

This group thinks that many atolls formed due to rising and falling sea levels. Interesting read.

Rethinking Darwin’s Theory of Atoll Formation - Eos

 

[WeRtheOcean]

I don't see that the new paper "challenges" Darwin's theory so much as adds nuances to it. It still says that the atolls began with the sinking of volcanic islands.

 

[tursiops]

I don't see that the new paper "challenges" Darwin's theory so much as adds nuances to it. It still says that the atolls began with the sinking of volcanic islands.

This is the dominate attitude on Coral-List Info Page....Darwin was not so much wrong as just incomplete. That is the thing about science, it is not really a static body of "facts" but a growing body of understanding.