Abstract:
The Darwinian progressive subsidence model for the evolution of fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls has been generally accepted following the indisputable proof of subsidence provided by drilling results in the Pacific. Nonetheless, there are data that do not fit the expectations of the model, such as the similar lagoon depths of barrier reefs and atolls as opposed to the subsidence theory’s implicit prediction that atolls should have significantly greater depths. In contrast, a great deal of evidence supports the influence of meteoric solution on barrier reef morphology. For example, the maximum lagoon depth of 56 modern barrier reefs is statistically correlated with the lagoon catchment area for modern annual rainfall. These modern rainfall patterns would seem to be a reasonable proxy for relative geographic differences in glacial lowstand rainfall, even though the absolute amounts of such rainfall are unknown. The correlation therefore suggests the importance of Pleistocene subaerial solution in contributing to barrier reef morphology. Further support for antecedent influence occurs in the form of barrier reef passes in which the depth of the reef pass is correlated with onshore drainage volumes. On a larger scale, the Cook Island of Mangaia provides evidence that solution can produce barrier reef morphology independent of reef development. In contrast, there are no examples of the subsidence-predicted lagoon transition of fringing reefs to barrier reefs to atolls. Moreover, the common occurrence of fringing reefs within barrier reefs negates subsidence as a causal factor in their ‘presumed progressive evolutionary development. Consequently, the evidence to date suggests that a solution morphology template has been accentuated by reef construction to produce the diagnostic barrier reef morphology we see today. The importance of subsidence would seem to be in accounting for the overall thickness of the resulting carbonate caps of oceanic examples and in contributing to lagoon depth variation among the larger continental entities.
