Notes. On the Existence of a Coral Reef Regenerative Sediment

Abstract

Calcareous Detrial Sediment has been recovered from the interiors of semiconsolidated ramose non-living coral formations of several coral reef areas. While collecting invertebrates from Indian Ocean coral reefs during participation in the International Indian Ocean Expedition (1963), I was impressed by the general presence of a muddy sediment which was released into the water when the dead coral substratum was broken up. The presence of such a sediment seemed unusual in view of the normal clarity of the typically unproductive reef waters and the absence of land-derived sediments. At that time I began hypothesizing about the sediment dynamics and decomposer function in coral reef microenvironments.