Tahiti/society islands

Abstract

The Society Islands, including Tahiti, form a linear chain of volcanic islands rimmed by fringing to barrier reefs and locally forming atolls. The coral diversity does not exceed 35 genera. Acroporids, pocilloporids, and poritids are the most common reef builders irrespective of island. Algal ridges are usual reef-crest features. The world’s thickest continuous reef sequence encompassing the last deglacial times has been extracted from the Tahitian barrier reef. Late Pleistocene to Holocene reef frameworks are typified by the general occurrence of thick microbialite crusts. There are exposures of mid-to late Holocene reef-related deposits in most of the islands, providing evidence of a high sea stand at a maximum elevation of þ1 m.