CORAL REEFS 



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origin. Nevertheless, the problems of coral reef formation 

 are essentially the same in the case of both reefs and atolls 

 and, as we shall see, there is reason for thinking that all 

 kinds of coral formations may be brought about as a result 

 of the same process. 



Fig. 34. — Chart of Cocos Atoll (after Wood- Jones). 



An explanation of the formation of coral reefs is best 

 begun by an examination of the means whereby fringing 

 reefs are produced, about which there is no such mystery as 



