who discovered the process of coral reef development
Coral reef In 1842 in his first monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs,[13] Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs, an idea he conceived during the voyage of the Beagle. He theorized uplift and subsidence of the Earth's crust under the oceans formed the atolls.[14] Darwinâ€™s theory sets out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation. It starts with a fringing reef forming around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subsides. As the subsidence continues, the fringing reef becomes a barrier reef, and ultimately an atoll reef.