Talk:The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs has been listed as one of the Natural sciences good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
August 14, 2009	Good article nominee	Listed

A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on February 12, 2009.

The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin's first published theory, explains how coral atolls (example pictured) form?

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GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Commencing review

I will undertake this review. The article appears neutral, stable and well written. It is generally well-referenced, and all images appear to be in order.

I have added a courtesy credit to one of the images, which is not mandatory, while a second (the aerial view of the Keeling Islands) appears to require acknowledgement of source. The use of the images itself is not at issue.

I have undertaken some copyedits. Please check that these have not changed the sense of the piece.

Thank you for tackling this, the only edit which was problematic was the description of Henslow, which I've modified. . dave souza, talk 20:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Specific points

"The formation of coral atolls was a scientific puzzle at that time." Since this is the first sentence of the body text, we need to be told explcitily what "that time" was.

Rephrased to tie this in to the Beagle setting out, and added more information from new source. . dave souza, talk 20:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"There he tested his ideas and found some facts opposing them, noting 16 volcanic craters that resembled atolls in being raised more on one side, and five hills which appeared roughly equal in height as the proponents of atolls forming on submerged volcanos had proposed." I wasn't sure what was being said here, and found the phrase about vocanic craters confusing. Perhaps the fact that the islands lacked reefs needs to be stated earlier and then explain this initially challenged Darwin's theory?

Looking at the source, have rewritten this: the volcanos and hill heights were in line with the old theory, which he'd abandoned, and the lack of reefs was neutral to either theory. . dave souza, talk 20:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"...he wrote the first full draft of his theory on the way to New Zealand on December 21". Sounds as though he wrote it in one day, whereas i think you mean that was the date they arrived in NZ.

Have rewritten this having checked the sources. I wasn't sure if he'd examined the coral on Tahiti, as it gets little mention in his diary, but that was apparently written after the Essay where he put all his notes on corals. . dave souza, talk 20:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"down to about 10 fathoms (5 m)". I'm pretty sure this is wrong - a fathom is two yards, and therefore approximately two metres, so 10 fathoms is closer to 20 metres. Ditto for "about 20–30 fathoms (10–15m)" Later measurements in "Darwin's findings and modern views" seciton appear correct.

Ouch. Have revised, using a calculator and remembering this time that a fathom is 6'-0" . . dave souza, talk 20:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think it might be more logical to have the section on "reception" after, rather than before, the section on "structure of book".

On reflection, agree and have changed it accordingly. . dave souza, talk 20:57, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"He and Lyell were unable to answer the question as to why similar depths had not been found in fossil coral limestone onshore." This section was not easy to follow, and in the preceding sentence, I wonder if "thicknesses" would be a better word than "depths"?

Have rewritten the relevant sentences. . dave souza, talk 22:46, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

An excellent article otherwise. I will drop back in to see how things are going. hamiltonstone (talk) 05:28, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Dave for the prompt revisions. It looks in good shape, and is being passed. hamiltonstone (talk) 22:23, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That was quick! Many thanks, dave souza, talk 22:47, 14 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Source on Cocos Islands stay

Armstrong, Patrick. 1991. Under the blue vault of heaven: A study of Charles Darwin's sojourn in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. looks useful. . . dave souza, talk 12:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Added a "See Also" for Zimmerman's Competing Theory of Reef Formation

The article on Don Z. Zimmerman mentions that he had a theory of reef formation that made predictions that differed from Darwin's. To quote: Zimmerman "believed that (Darwin's theory) was incorrect, at least in the case of the Marshall Islands, and put forward his own theory. The difference was crucial to the success of the operation, for if Zimmerman was right then the slope off the lagoon shore would be steeper than forecast by Darwin, and the lagoon deep enough for LSTs to enter it and discharge tanks directly onto the beach. It turned out that Zimmerman, who went ashore with the 4th Marine Division, was correct." I simply added it as a "See also." Should there be anything about that in the body of the article? Has Zimmerman's theory been further supported or further debunked since WWII? AdderUser (talk) 01:56, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

See the continuing discussion at Talk:Don Z. Zimmerman. Bahudhara (talk) 00:42, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Coral reef in Tobago

Are the coral reefs in Tobago atolls? 100.2.249.98 (talk) 10:07, 30 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]