Solution effects on elevated limestone terraces

Limestone terraces on a number of islands in the southwest Pacific show a well-developed wall or rampart along their seaward edges that apparently is formed by solution. Such rimmed terraces resemble, on a much enlarged scale, the solution facets developed on flat-lying joint blocks of limestone, recently described by Smith and Albritton (1941). In an attempt to check the interpretation of field observations, a rimmed facet was produced experimentally in the laboratory. The artificial structure appears to be very similar to the natural facets on joint blocks and in many ways closely resembles the much larger rimmed terraces of the Pacific islands. It is believed that rimmed terraces with a profile similar to that of the island of Eua, Tonga, indicate island uplift accompanied by tilting. © 1945, The Geological Society of America, Inc.