Correct Answer - Option 2 : Darwin
The correct answer is option 2
- The subsidence hypothesis of coral reef development was proposed by Charles Darwin and was formulated first in 1837 and modified it in the year 1842 during his voyage on the Beagle.
- It envisaged that fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls represent successive stages in an evolutionary sequence.
- Charles Darwin proposed that different types of coral reef observed in mid ocean came about through the subsidence of underlying volcanic foundations.
- He envisaged that fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls represented different stages as a result of vertical growth of reefs on subsiding basements.
- Subsequent drilling has provided support for this idea, which can be integrated into plate tectonic theory, and can also accommodate many factors associated with changes in sea level.
Therefore, the correct answer is Darwin
