Phoenix islands report .1 : An environmental survey of Canton Atoll Lagoon, 1973

Abstract

Canton Atoll has a single passage between the ocean and lagoon and lias conspicuous environmental gradients from that passage to the back lagoon. These gradients include the physiography of the lagoon floor, water quality, and the diversity and abundance of corals, fishes, and mollusks. The gradients can apparently be attributed either directly or indirectly to circulation and water motion within the lagoon. Those oceanographic characteristics can, in turn, be attributed to the geological history of the atoll, including some human modification of the pass configuration.