There’s a Canadian guy who discovered back in the 1980’s gentle electrolysis can create artificial coral.
He was getting funding to try to raise an atol off Madagascar as recently as ten (ed: twenty) years ago, shortly before he passed.
Someone more recently thought they found that electrical potential attracts coral polyps, so perhaps the “electrolysis” was less chemical and more biological.
When I hear about steel to creat coral I think of galvanic action.
> The chemical process that takes place on the cathode is as follows: Calcium carbonate (aragonite) combines with magnesium, chloride and hydroxyl ions to slowly accrete around the cathode coating it with a thick layer of material similar in composition to magnesium oxychloride cement. Over time cathodic protection replaces the negative chloride ion (Cl-) with dissolved bicarbonate (HCO3-) to harden the coating to a hydromagnesite-aragonite mixture with gaseous oxygen evolving through the porous structure.
But it does seem the process creates an environment that's very beneficial for coral growth in general.
It is interesting to think about how much could be done to mitigate human impact on various ecosystems if we humans had an improved grasp on animal senses. Recommendable: “An Immense World” by Ed Yong
He was getting funding to try to raise an atol off Madagascar as recently as ten (ed: twenty) years ago, shortly before he passed.
Someone more recently thought they found that electrical potential attracts coral polyps, so perhaps the “electrolysis” was less chemical and more biological.
When I hear about steel to creat coral I think of galvanic action.