Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 26 November 1976:
Vol. 194. no. 4268, pp. 937 - 939
DOI: 10.1126/science.194.4268.937
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Calcium Carbonate Production, Coral Reef Growth, and Sea Level Change

S. V. SMITH 1 and D. W. KINSEY 2

1 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, Post Office Box 1346, Kaneohe 96744
2 MBT Research Laboratories, Post Office Box 219, North Ryde 2113, New South Wales, Australia

Shallow, seaward portions of modern coral reefs produce about 4 kilograms of calcium carbonate per square meter per year, and protected areas produce about 0.8 kilogram per square meter per year. The difference is probably largely a function of water motion. The more rapid rate, equivalent to a maximum vertical accretion of 3 to 5 millimeters per year, places an upper limit on the potential of modern coral reef communities to create a significant vertical structure on a rising sea.

Submitted on March 25, 1976
Revised on August 10, 1976


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
ORGANIC AND INORGANIC CARBON PRODUCTION BY ALGAL SYMBIONT-BEARING FORAMINIFERA ON NORTHWEST PACIFIC CORAL-REEF FLATS.
K. Fujita and H. Fujimura (2008)
Journal of Foraminiferal Research 38, 117-126
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Techniques for predicting the lifetimes of wave-swept macroalgae: a primer on fracture mechanics and crack growth.
K. J. Mach, D. V. Nelson, and M. W. Denny (2007)
J. Exp. Biol. 210, 2213-2230
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Death by small forces: a fracture and fatigue analysis of wave-swept macroalgae.
K. J. Mach, B. B. Hale, M. W. Denny, and D. V. Nelson (2007)
J. Exp. Biol. 210, 2231-2243
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Budget of Carbonate Framework and Sediment Production, Kailua Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.
(2003)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 73, 856-868
The "Carbonate Factory" Revisited: A Reexamination of Sediment Production Functions Used to Model Deposition on Carbonate Platforms.
(2002)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 72, 849-857
Coral reefs and islands and predicted sea- level rise.
D. R. Stoddart and D.R. Stoddart (1990)
Progress in Physical Geography 14, 521-536
   PDF »
Coral Reef Morphogenesis: A Multidimensional Model.
W. H. Adey and W. H. Adey (1978)
Science 202, 831-837
   Abstract »    PDF »
Coastal depositional landforms: a morphodynamic approach.
L. D. Wright, L.D. Wright, and B.G. Thom (1977)
Progress in Physical Geography 1, 412-459
   PDF »
Deadline for Nominations: 15 September 1977 AAAS-Newcomb Cleveland Prize: Contest Year Is Nearly Over.
(1977)
Science 197, 556
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)