Holocene and modern reef island dynamics in a monsoon-dominated setting: Carbonate sediments from the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia

This cumulative dissertation starts with a brief introduction to carbonate sedimentology, the current state of research in the field of reef islands and a presentation of the study area, before moving on to the three main chapters. Two of these main chapters contain studies on Holocene and modern island dynamics in the Spermonde Archipelago in the context of sea level fluctuations, changes in the monsoon system and ecological shifts in the sediment-producing biota. The third study highlights the influence of the monsoon on the facies distribution in seafloor sediments throughout the study area. The extended discussion summarizes the results from the two reef island studies, places their hypotheses in a broader context and establishes a connection to the implications from the seafloor sediment study. Finally, possible future research questions arising from the presented work are outlined.