Raised coral atoll

A raised coral atoll is a typical atoll which has been lifted high enough above sea level by tectonic forces to protect it from scouring by storms and enable soils and diverse – often endemic – species of flora and fauna to develop.^[1] With the exception of Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean and Henderson Island in the Pacific, most tropical raised atolls have been dramatically altered by human activity such as habitat change, species introduction, phosphate mining and even bomb testing.^[2]

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