Fringing reef growth and morphology: a review

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Abstract

Fringing reefs are generally not simple veneers of coral growth along tropical shorelines. Extensive research over the past few decades, based on radiocarbon dating of Holocene reef deposits, has indicated that they can develop in a complex variety of ways even though the surface morphology may appear relatively simple. The principal factor that appears to determine the growth and morphology of fringing reefs is the available accommodation space. Sea-level fluctuations are important, primarily because the sea surface determines the absolute accommodation space for a given reef. This means that a reef established during a period of sea-level rise will be able to accrete vertically as space is created above it. If, however, the reef establishes at, or grows to, the sea surface, thereby occupying all the available accommodation space, it can no longer accrete vertically and begins to build laterally. The morphology and chronostratigraphy of a range of Holocene fringing reefs are described, on the basis of which six fringing reef growth models are identified. In model A, the fringing reef is established at depth and primarily accretes vertically towards the sea surface. Reef growth in model B initiates at sea level and due to the lack of vertical accommodation space grows laterally. Model C has a similar morphology to model B; however, the reef progrades over a non-reefal sediment wedge. Episodic lateral and vertical growth occurs in model D, with a stepwise progradation of the reef front. The remaining models are characterised by seaward reef framework behind which unconsolidated sediments accumulate. In model E, reef-crest growth forms a barrier leading to the development of a backreef lagoon. Model F has a similar morphology to model E, except that the reef crest is formed by hurricane rubble accumulation rather than framework accretion, and is periodically reworked.

Introduction

Fringing reefs are simple in terms of their morphology. They consist of reefs that are close to shore, often shore-attached, usually forming a relatively thin veneer of seaward thickening carbonate sediments over non-reefal topography (Steers and Stoddart, 1977). Despite their apparent simplicity, recent morphostratigraphic and geochronological studies of fringing reefs indicate that they may develop in one of several different ways.

The objective of this review is to synthesise the results of subsurface investigations of fringing reefs from around the world, and to recognise the principal modes of fringing reef growth. Radiometric dating of the materials which contribute to reef formation enables the representation of gross reef evolution by a series of isochrons (lines of similar age). Six general models of fringing reef growth can be recognised from chronostratigraphic studies of reefs in the Holocene, and it may be possible to extend these interpretations to reefs in the Quaternary and pre-Quaternary geological record.

Section snippets

Reef growth

Coral reefs may be classified on the basis of several factors, such as their gross morphology, size, relation to non-limestone rocks and, in some cases, the depth of the surrounding water (Stoddart, 1969). Darwin (1842) devised one of the earliest and most enduring reef classifications, comprising fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. Fringing reefs occur where the reef is close to shore; barrier reefs where the reef is separated some distance from the shore by a lagoon, and atolls are

Chronostratigraphic studies

In the case of barrier reefs and atolls, modern morphology depends on the nature of sea-level change, the antecedent surface and the ecological communities that contribute sediments Hopley, 1982, Hopley, 1994, Guilcher, 1988, McLean and Woodroffe, 1994. Subsurface drilling and radiocarbon dating have enabled the growth history of reefs to be reconstructed in considerable detail. Holocene reef carbonates can be radiocarbon dated; the determined age represents the time at which the organism

Fringing reef growth synthesis

Fringing reefs appear simple on the surface. They are attached to the shoreline with the main variation in morphology being the presence and size of the backreef lagoon. Their evolution, however, is far from simple with a range of growth morphologies being possible and a variety of sedimentary units being present below their surface. Reef growth worldwide appears to produce a range of reef structures and morphologies that are affected primarily by relative sea-level movements, coral growth, the

Conclusion

Holocene fringing reef growth may be described by at least six broad models of evolution. These models are based on stratigraphy and chronology as the reef accreted, reflecting the available accommodation space. Fringing reefs will preferentially accrete vertically. If there is no vertical accommodation space available, either because the reef has established at, or grown to, the sea surface, or due to a relative sea-level fall, then it will prograde seaward. Reef growth may also be episodic,

David Kennedy graduated with a BSc Honours degree from the University of Sydney, Australia and obtained his PhD from the University of Wollongong, Australia. His doctoral research investigated the Holocene reef and lagoonal sedimentation on the southernmost coral reef in the world, Lord Howe Island. David is now based in the School of Earth Sciences at Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand as a lecturer and is an honorary research fellow in the School of Geosciences, University of

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    David Kennedy graduated with a BSc Honours degree from the University of Sydney, Australia and obtained his PhD from the University of Wollongong, Australia. His doctoral research investigated the Holocene reef and lagoonal sedimentation on the southernmost coral reef in the world, Lord Howe Island. David is now based in the School of Earth Sciences at Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand as a lecturer and is an honorary research fellow in the School of Geosciences, University of Wollongong. He previously was a postdoctorial research fellow at Wollongong, investigating reef and shelf environments in the Tasman Sea and northern Australia.

    Colin Woodroffe is a coastal geomorphologist, who graduated from Cambridge University with a PhD in Geography in 1980. He has particular research interests in the morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentary dynamics of tropical coasts, and the application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to the study of processes and change in the coastal zone. He is an active research member of the Research Centre for Landscape Change and the Oceans and Coastal Research Centre at the University of Wollongong. Colin has a major research interest in reef studies, having studied reef development and sea-level history in the Cayman Islands, Belize, Tuvalu, Tonga, Cook Islands, Torres Strait, Kiribati, and the Maldives. He has recently completed a multidisciplinary, collaborative project on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and a study of Late Quaternary environmental change on Lord Howe Island.

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