Biography
Hironobu Kan is the Director of the Research Center for Coastal Seafloor, Kyushu University, Japan. He is also a Professor in the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society, Kyushu University. The primary focus of his current research is Coral Reef Geomorphology using Multibeam Bathymetric Echo Sounder and SCUBA Diving Surveys. Because scientific knowledge of the coastal seafloor is limited, he is conducting geomorphology and related interdisciplinary sciences on the coastal zones by observing high-resolution seafloor bathymetric maps using a multibeam echosounder that he introduced to his laboratory. He discovered large submerged karst features and coral assemblages in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. He also explained historical harbor formation in Yarabuzaki, Ishigaki Island, Japan through his bathymetric research. He is challenging novel scientific discovery in his ongoing research. He is also studying the development of coral reefs during glacial and post-glacial ages using cores obtained from marine platform, drilling vessel and also using a diver-operated submersible hydraulic drills or through observation and sampling from harbor excavation in reefs. Coral reefs are dynamic geomorphological systems formed by corals and other reef building organisms which deposit solid limestone and build up wave-resistant structure. It acts as breakwaters to save our life in the coastal areas.