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A survey of the literature concerning coral reefs and
their invertebrate fauna has been made.
Emphasis has been
placed on papers dealing with ecology and physiology.
Growth
rates of corals as reported in the literature are difficult
to compare because different criteria have been used.
However,
it is evident from several specimens of Pocillopora sp. which
were collected during the 1948 biological resurvey of Bikini
that there is a more rapid growth at Bikini--perhaps twice as
great--than at other places reported.
An effort will be made
to obtain more reliable data of this nature at Eniwetok.
C.
Radiochemical analyses
Radiochemical analyses were made of a number of soil samples
and biological samples taken at Eniwetok Atoll in November 1952
immediately following the Mike shot.
Selective absorption of
fission product isotopes by plants and animals collected soon
after the shot was not observed.
Results of these analyses are
tabulated in the Applied Fisheries Laboratory report uwri-33 '2) |
Portions of soil from Rojoa, Runit, Rigili, Igurin, and
Japtan Islands and contents of the intestines from sea cucumbers
taken near Japtan,
Rigili,
Runit, Aaraanbiru,
and Bogallua Islands
were analyzed for uranium and plutonium content.
that the
It was thought
contents of sea cucumber intestines could well be used
as bottom samples,
since it is known that sea cucumbers of that