charles darwin discovered the process of coral reef development.
charles darwin discovered the process of coral reef development.
who discovered the process of coral reef development?
charles darwin
having completed this course, zimmerman's next assignment was with the joint planning staff of the v amphibious corps in the central pacific. in this role he was involved in the planning for operation flintlock, the capture of the marshall islands. he was aware of charles darwin's general theory on the evolution of coral reefs and atolls, as expounded in "the structure and distribution of coral reefs", from the 1840s, but believed that it was not an absolute predictor of the slope off lagoon shores in all cases. he built on darwin's work with his own published paper on coral reef development, which divided atolls into 3 age strata, with different characteristics. the differences were crucial to the success of the operation, because the slopes off the lagoon shores of the marshalls were steeper than forecast by a strict reading of darwin's 19th century general work, and the lagoon was deep enough for lsts to enter to discharge tanks directly onto the beach, which zimmerman confirmed by going ashore with the 4th marine division. he was awarded the legion of merit for this service.
don z. zimmerman
the coral reef has been an integral part of southeast asian communities for thousands of years. according to tiffany adams of hong kong, "with the higher demands on the coral reef to produce for the increasing population and the introduction of the world market in the last fifty years, overexploitation has become the most prevalent threat." the explosion of the live reef food fish and aquarium trades as markets has been detrimental to the coral reef. economic incentives have led to the over fishing of the coral reef and the creation of new technologies to create higher yields of harvest. the use of cyanide and blast fishing has begun to destroy one of the largest coral reef environments in the world. furthermore, the increased populations have affected the coral reef indirectly. besides using the reef for economic gain, the increase of people has created pollution. the high levels of development and change in the methods of using the land have led to massive deforestation, which in turn has created a substantial amount of sediments and nutrient loads being placed in coastal environments. furthermore, attempts to industrialize at the lowest cost possible have led to increased pollution without regulation. to protect and restore the coral reefs many things must be considered. the fishermen and reef harvesters must be given a new method of generating income, one that is sustainable and economically enticing that does not negatively affect the environment. also, there is a need to manage and regulate the development of the southeast area and the pollution from this area, while considering the environmental impacts and the economic impacts farther down the road. the task of saving the coral reef in southeast asia must occur within the communities which depend upon them. the problem, of a community's abuse and overuse of a natural resource, as created through desperation, poverty and a lack of oversight, cannot be handled by a foreign, external organization or a well-intended ngo. such as the result of the incredibly successful restoration of apo island's reef, the local people must decide as a community to manage the reefs so that they may continue to sustain themselves through this essential resource.
southeast asian coral reefs