TLDR
In this chapter I will give all the facts which I have collected, relating to the distribution of coral-reefs,—to the conditions favourable to their increase,—to the rate of their growth,—and to the depth at which they are formed.
These subjects have an important bearing on the theory of the origin of the different classes of coral-reefs.
SECTION I.—ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CORAL-REEFS, AND ON THE CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE TO THEIR INCREASE.
With regard to the limits of latitude, over which coral-reefs extend, I have nothing new to add. The Bermuda Islands, in 32° 15′ N., is the point furthest removed from the equator, in which they appear to exist; and it has been suggested that their extension so far northward in this instance is owing to the warmth of the Gulf Stream. In the Pacific, the Loo Choo Islands, in latitude 27° N., have reefs on their shores, and there is an atoll in 28° 30′, situated N.W. of the Sandwich Archipelago. In the Red Sea there are coral-reefs in latitude 30°. In the southern hemisphere coral-reefs do not extend so far from the equatorial sea. In the Southern Pacific there are only a few reefs beyond the line of the tropics, but Houtmans Abrolhos, on the western shores of Australia in latitude 29° S., are of coral formation.via the TL;DR App
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Written by charlesdarwin | On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection