A review of reef-coast sediment transport and reef island evolution
The research on the transport of carbonate sediment over coral reefs and the evolution of reef islands started relatively late in China.Meanwhile,reef islands in the South China Sea are important marine resources in China,involving in the core interests of national territorial sovereignty.Hence,conducting research in this area has important academic values and practical significance.The transport processes of bedload and suspen-ded carbonate sediment over coral reefs are overviewed,and there the driving mechanism of short-wave,low-frequency wave and current on the sediment transport as well as the sheltering effect of reef roughness are em-phasized.Dynamic evolution of reef islands and their influencing factors are summarized and analyzed,and the evolutions of reef islands under both long-term sea level rise and short-term increased storm surge are focal pointed.Finally,the future research directions to focus on are proposed.