Focus on Sedimentary Environments

Pleistocene coral reef

Windley Key Quarries, Florida Keys, USA


	Boring in coral colony

Bioerosion

The boring seen in the image above is one example of bioerosion: attack on carbonate substrates by organisms capable of boring into hard materials, by either mechanical or chemical means. The walls of the boring were later exploited by encrusting organisms, particular serpulid worms, whose calcite tubes can be seen in the image.

Which type of organism was responsible for this boring? Before answering, think about the size of the structure