Phosphatic limestones and a related soil were described from collections made by the first Royal Society coral-reef-boring expedition to Funafuti in 1896 (Cooksey, 1896; David and Sweet, 1904, Judd, 1904; Sollas, 1904; cf. Cullis, 1904). Although there is some geographic uncertainty about the source of some of Judd's samples, the specimens came from three localities on Funafuti, the largest being on Amatuku.