I conclude, however, that most of the large blue spaces, have subsided without many and great elevatory oscillations, because only a few upraised atolls have been observed: the supposition that such elevations have taken place, but that the upraised parts have been worn down by the surf, and thus have escaped observation, is overruled by the very considerable depth of the lagoons of all the larger atolls; for this could not have been the case, if they had suffered repeated elevations and abrasion.
"Coral-Reefs"
Darwin, Charles
Ehrenberg also asserts that most of the islets, even the lowest, have a flat abraded basis, composed of the same tertiary formation: he believes that as soon as the surf wears down the protuberant parts of a bank, just beneath the level of the sea, the surface becomes protected from further abrasion by the growth of coral, and he thus accounts for the existence of so many banks standing on a level with the surface of this sea.
"Coral-Reefs"
Darwin, Charles
The abrasion upon the stiff mud of the ant-heap showed where his back had rested,-the mark of his body was visible in the dust, and a groove-like furrow in the turf had been made by his huge tusk.
"Popular Adventure Tales"
Mayne Reid