corals - 2025 ACF Fall

Tossup

The value of delta-O-18 measured in foraminifera (“for-uh-min-NIF-er-uh”) and these organisms’ coenosteum (“see-NESS-tee-um”) can (-5[1])extrapolate historical temperatures. Some of these organisms called Scleractinia (10[2]-5[1])(“sclair-ac-TIN-ee-uh”) form tree-like (-5[1])growth rings (10[1])of aragonite. (-5[1])The fact that these organisms flourish in nutrient-poor (-5[2])environments (10[2]-5[1])is called (10[1]-5[3])Darwin’s (-5[1])paradox. (10[1]-5[2])Ecosystems centered (10[2]-5[2])on these organisms (-5[2])have (10[1]-5[1])“platform” (10[1]-5[1])and “fringing” (10[1])types. (10[7]-5[4])Rising temperatures (10[4])cause (10[4])symbiotic (10[11]-5[2])zooxanthellae (10[12]-5[3])(“zoh-uh-zan-THELL-eye”) to be expelled (10[2])by (10[1])these (10[3])cnidarians (10[3]-5[1])(“nigh-DARE-ee-ins”), turning them (-5[1])white. (10[10]-5[1])These (10[1])organisms (10[7]-5[2])absorb (10[3])less calcium (10[7]-5[1])carbonate (10[2])into their skeletons when the ocean (10[1])is (10[1])acidic. (10[3])For (10[2])10 (10[1])points, a quarter (10[1])of the world’s marine life (10[1]-5[1])is (10[1])hosted by what organisms’ (10[1])reefs? (10[5])■END■ (10[16])

ANSWER: corals [accept coral reefs or fringing coral reefs or platform coral reefs; accept coral bleaching; accept stony corals or hard corals; accept soft corals; prompt on Scleractinia or scleractinians until “Scleractinia” is read; prompt on Cnidaria or cnidarians until “cnidarians” is read; prompt on Anthozoa or anthozoans]

<Editors, Biology>

= Average correct buzz position

Back to tossups

Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Position	Value
Advai Srinivasan	UC Irvine	UCLA B	11	-5
Wyatt Johnson	CWRU B	Michigan C	20	10
Jacob Goodson	Ohio State A	CWRU D	20	10
Arthur Zhang	Purdue C	Indiana B	20	-5
Zac Stapler	Pittsburgh	Louisville C	22	-5
Ben Lanahan	Clemson A	Clemson C	24	10
Jacob Cohen	UCLA A	UCLA E	26	-5
Aaryan Sumesh	Berkeley Archer Queen	Berkeley Boss Bandit	34	-5
Alex Miller	Edinburgh B	Durham C	34	-5
Nishad Joshi	Kentucky	WVU A	35	10
Camden Walker	WashU Grolars	Purdue B	35	10
Will Huang	Wisconsin A	Wisconsin C	35	-5
Hudson Kee	William & Mary B	Virginia A	37	-5
Matthew Westley	Purdue A	Iowa A	37	10
Helen Neves	Boise State	Washington Chum	37	-5
Eli O'Sick Johnson	Binghamton C	Binghamton A	37	-5
Lucas Hall	Waterloo C	Toronto C	38	-5
Xavier Bornhorst	Maryland A	Stony Brook	39	-5
Ayaan Jajodia	Dartmouth B	Tufts C	39	-5
Jeremy Scurlock	Chipola College	Georgia Tech C	39	10
Bonham Buchannon	Louisville D	Michigan D	41	10
Francis Dinh	Illinois Canada	Iowa B	41	-5
Annabelle Koopmans	Washington Atlantic	Texas	41	10
Daniel Chen	Emory A	Auburn B	41	-5
Luke Sauer	Michigan Tech	Minnesota	44	-5
Josh Morris	Bristol	LSE	44	-5
Miles Phillips	Florida Tech B	Florida B	45	-5
Anna Liao	Michigan B	Louisville B	45	10
Matthew Kohn	Williams A	Boston College A	46	10
Scott Hyde	Georgia Tech B	Georgia A	46	-5
Sam Alahi	Illinois Orange	Chicago B	48	10
Hansen Jin	Berkeley Skeleton King	Stanford B	49	-5
Ishan Pachauri	UCLA C	UCSD A	49	10
Sai Subramanian	CWRU A	Ohio State D	49	-5
Fern Fang	VCU A	Virginia Tech B	49	-5
James Meek	George Mason A	Columbia B	49	10
Nicholas Ryan	Lehigh B	Maryland B	49	10
Ben Spirtas	Maryland C	Rutgers D	49	10
William Henley	Illinois Champaign	Purdue D	49	-5
Theodor Martin	WashU Grizzlers	Illinois Urbana	49	10
Julian Moody	Tufts A	Boston University B	49	10
Antara Bhattacharya	Cambridge A	Imperial B	49	10
David Yuan	Berkeley Little Prince	UCSC	51	10
Arjun Saulnier	CWRU C	Michigan A	51	10
Jason Lee	Rutgers A	Vassar B	51	10
Emma Gates	Brown A	Brandeis Bach	51	10
Malcolm Meyn	McGill C	Carleton A	52	10
Michael Xu	McMaster B	Queen's A	52	10
Alex Dzurick	William Woods University A	Indiana A	52	10
Charles Xin	British Columbia A	Washington Chinook	52	10
Valerie Brown	Carleton B	McGill A	53	-5
Liam Rojas	Virginia A	William & Mary B	53	10
Ilyas Choukri	Virginia Tech A	William & Mary C	53	10
Leonard Castine	Penn	Rutgers B	53	10
Ethan Ma	Illinois Blue	Rose-Hulman A	53	10
Connor King	St. Thomas	Iowa State	53	10
Mohamed Algraiw	MIT A	Brandeis Beethoven	53	10
Penelope Graham	Williams B	MIT B	53	10
Niyanthi Yamunan	Georgia Tech E	Georgia Tech A	53	10
Daniel Slater	Tennessee Tech	Vanderbilt B	53	10
Stephen Donoghue	Sheffield B	Edinburgh D	53	10
Sia Kalia	Warwick	Cardiff	53	-5
Eric Zhu	Cornell D	Cornell B	53	10
Vivienne Ruemler	USC B	UC Santa Barbara	54	-5
James Xiao	Toronto A	Toronto D	54	10
Susanna Liao	Waterloo A	Toronto I	54	10
Sicheng Jiang	Toronto H	Waterloo B	54	10
Daniel Luebs	Michigan State B	Michigan State D	54	-5
Alma Gazzaniga	UNC B	Liberty A	54	-5
Abigail Lee	Virginia Tech C	UNC D	54	10
Magnolia Schnirman Barría	NYU B	NYU A	54	10
Vihaan Jim	Princeton	George Mason C	54	10
Eric Morshed	Johns Hopkins	Rowan	54	10
Margaret Withers	George Mason B	Rutgers C	54	10
Jack Meyers	Brown B	Amherst B	54	10
Yoyo Liu	British Columbia C	Washington Masu	54	10
Alex Hestermann	Washington Sockeye	Washington State	54	10
Megan Englehart	ESF	Rochester	54	10
Jacob Ergueta	Florida A	Florida Tech A	57	10
Taiki Takahashi	Dartmouth C	Boston College B	57	10
Ethan Enochian	Purdue D	Illinois Champaign	58	10
Jason Thieu	Michigan State A	WVU B	59	10
Andrew Boardman	Cambridge D	Imperial C	59	10
Hayley Morris	RIT B	Binghamton B	59	10
Connor Kahn	NCSU A	Liberty B	60	10
Anthony Xu	Amherst A	Vermont A	60	10
Jackson Slaughter	Tennessee A	Georgia Tech F	60	10
Danny Cutbill	RIT A	Cornell A	60	-5
Chris Chang	USC A	UCSD B	62	-5
Andrew Nucci	UCLA B	UC Irvine	63	10
Nikola Wu	UCLA D	Claremont B	63	10
Diego Monge	Claremont C	UCLA F	63	10
Seth Allen	McMaster A	Brock A	63	10
Samuel Zheng	Toronto F	Toronto E	63	10
Nelson Adams-Riley	Sewanne	Mississippi State A	63	10
Yuxuan Lu	Vanderbilt A	Montevallo	63	10
Edward Zhang	Vanderbilt C	Alabama A	63	-5
Amelia Rees	Durham A	Sheffield A	63	10
Rory Moloney	Cambridge E	Birmingham	63	10
Judah Solomon	Imperial D	Southampton	63	10
Tristan Scarlett	Ottawa D	McGill E	64	10
Stephen Ottewell	Toronto B	Toronto G	65	10
Manobhiram Vegendla	Ohio State D	CWRU A	65	10
Nathan Woolery	Louisville C	Pittsburgh	65	10
Elizabeth Ziberman	Stony Brook	Maryland A	65	10
Yiwei Jiang	NYU C	Vassar A	65	-5
Steve Gaughan	Brandeis Mozart	Dartmouth A	65	-5
Reid Eichberg	Tufts B	Harvard	65	10
Logan Van Pelt	Washington Coho	Alberta A	65	10
Benny Shtutman	South Carolina A	Georgia Tech D	65	10
Ben Weng	Macalester	Wisconsin B	66	10
Suyog Vibhuti	Washington Steelhead	Arizona State B	66	10
Harri Slaughter	Cardiff	Warwick	66	10
Suren Grigorian	Berkeley Mighty Miner	Stanford A	68	10
Chen Nagahawatte	Ottawa B	Ottawa C	68	-5
Adithya Parat	McMaster C	Guelph A	68	10
Vedang Singhal	UNC C	Tusculum A	68	10
Lauren Edgar	Lehigh A	Columbia A	68	10
Vivian Lu	Wisconsin C	Wisconsin A	68	10
Marcus Hoshino	Washington Pink	Alberta B	68	10
Anirudh Terdal	LSE	Bristol	68	10
Pallas Allen	South Florida A	ERAU Daytona A	69	10
Matthew Bray	Auburn C	Auburn A	69	10
Andrea Owusu	Duke A	JMU B	75	10
Joshua Lam	Ohio State B	Michigan State C	76	10
Yashaswi Jaishy	Iowa B	Illinois Canada	77	10
Kenner Bailey	Boston University A	Williams C	77	10
Nayaaz Hashim	Oxford	Cambridge C	77	10
Peyton Legg	UCF A	Florida State A	78	10
Musa Ahmed	Edinburgh C	York	78	10
Erin Williams	JMU A	NCSU B	79	10
Juan Morales Oropeza	Ottawa C	Ottawa B	82	10
Rob Morris	Durham D	Edinburgh A	87	-5
James Bramley	Durham C	Edinburgh B	87	10
Eli Young	Vassar A	NYU C	88	10
TJ Pickering	Auburn B	Emory A	92	10
Yechan Park	Berkeley Boss Bandit	Berkeley Archer Queen	93	10
Joseph Wang	UCLA E	UCLA A	93	10
Emily Kadolph	Virginia Tech B	VCU A	93	10
Elizabeth Bowling	Indiana B	Purdue C	93	10
Elliott Gomes	Dartmouth A	Brandeis Mozart	93	10
Danny Han	Stanford B	Berkeley Skeleton King	94	10
Ethan Ririe	UCSD B	USC A	94	10
Winston Zuo	UC Santa Barbara	USC B	94	10
Charlie Ruff	McGill A	Carleton B	94	10
Ethen Sun	Toronto C	Waterloo C	94	10
Matthew Andersen	Florida B	Florida Tech B	94	10
Will Jones	Michigan State D	Michigan State B	94	10
Johanna Bryant	Liberty A	UNC B	94	10
Alex Feller	Minnesota	Michigan Tech	94	10
Devon Kumar	Tufts C	Dartmouth B	94	10
George Matsumura	Washington Chum	Boise State	94	10
Martin Brandenburg	Georgia A	Georgia Tech B	94	10
Jackson McDonald	Alabama A	Vanderbilt C	94	10
Abbie Isabel	Edinburgh A	Durham D	94	10
Owen Linder	Binghamton A	Binghamton C	94	10
Reese Powell	Cornell A	RIT A	94	10

Summary

Tournament	Edition	TUH	Conv. %	Neg %	Average Buzz
UK (North)	UK	5	100%	40%	75.00
UK (South)	UK	7	100%	29%	63.57
Northern California	US	4	100%	50%	76.50
Southern California	US	7	100%	57%	74.14
Eastern Canada (1)	US	4	100%	50%	73.00
Eastern Canada (2)	US	9	100%	11%	63.00
Florida	US	4	100%	25%	74.50
Great Lakes	US	11	100%	27%	51.91
Lower Mid-Atlantic	US	9	100%	33%	69.89
Upper Mid-Atlantic	US	12	100%	17%	57.33
Midwest	US	9	100%	33%	55.78
North	US	4	100%	50%	70.25
Northeast	US	12	100%	17%	62.67
Pacific	US	8	100%	13%	61.75
Southeast	US	12	100%	25%	64.08
Upstate NY	US	5	100%	40%	70.80