Advances in study of engineering geological characteristics of coral reef limestone

The research on engineering geological characteristics of coral reef limestone has become a significant and urgent need in the region of “One Belt and One Road” and the “maritime silk road”. By comparing the physical and mechanical characteristics of coral reef limestone from the South China Sea, the Red Sea, the Caribbean Sea, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, the characteristics and properties of marine biogenetic coral reef limestone are studied in this paper. It is found that Compared with normal carbonate rocks, such as dolomite and limestone, the coral reef limestone is characterized by large discreteness. Its porosity is larger and intensity lower, due to its complicated texture. As the results, the engineering and mechanic properties of the coral reef limestone is obviously controlled by the texture of the rock, we called it the “texture effect” in this paper. In vertical sequence, coral-reef always shows alternation of hard and soft beds due to differentiation of pore development, as the results of “alternating evolution of diagenesis”.