Bioerosion of concrete and limestone by marine organisms: A 13 year experiment from Jamaica

Concrete cinder blocks and Pleistocene coral limestone rubble were submerged in the East Back Reef lagoon at Discovery Bay, Jamaica for 13 years. In 1986, they were collected, slabbed, and examined for bioeroding infauna. Taxa varied in their ability to penetrate the non-calcareous cement matrix. Polychaetes and the bivalve, Lithophaga, bored all substrata easily, although the polychaetes preferred the cement. The sponges, Cliona and Damiria, only occurred in calcium carbonate aggregate and thus were limited to superficial attack. Results indicate that concrete structures in tropical and sub-tropical seas are subject to the same bioerosive forces as any carbonate substrates. Moreover, the two genera which were more abundant in concrete, Lithophaga and Cliona, are circum-global bioeroders which are more destructive in areas of high productivity and eutrophication. These environments are found in areas of marine construction activity.