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A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem ... theory of the formation of atoll reefs, ... environment benefits many coral reef animals, which, for example, may feed in ...
The Reimaanlok Marine Protected Area spans 18,500 square miles in the Ratak Chain, and it’s bursting with life – from grey reef sharks to sea turtles and vibrant coral reefs. This is what ...
The lagoon is not the former volcanic crater. For the atoll to persist, the coral reef must be maintained at the sea surface, with coral growth matching any relative change in sea level (sinking of the island or rising oceans). [4] An alternative model for the origin of atolls is called the antecedent karst model.
Reefs were formed by corals living in shallow depths of water. Darwin's theory set out a sequence of coral reef formation around an extinct volcanic island, becoming an atoll as the island and ocean floor subsided. Courtesy of the US Geological Survey. When the Beagle set out in 1831, the formation of coral atolls was a scientific puzzle.
In December 1993, the UNESCO declared the Tubbataha Reefs National Park as a World Heritage Site as a unique example of an atoll reef with a very high density of marine species; the North Islet serving as a nesting site for birds and marine turtles.
The Amazon Reef (also referred to as the Amazonian Reef) is an extensive coral and sponge reef system, located off the coast of French Guiana and northern Brazil. It is one of the largest reef systems in the world known to exist, with scientists estimating its length to be over 600 miles (970 km) long, and covering over 3,600 square miles ...
Each of these two regions contains its own unique coral reef fish fauna with no natural overlap in species. Of the two regions, the richest by far in terms of reef fish diversity is the Indo-Pacific where there are an estimated 4,000–5,000 species of fishes associated with coral reef habitats.
There are two types of lagoons, coastal and oceanic/atoll lagoons. [19] A coastal lagoon is, as the definition above, simply a body of water that is separated from the ocean by a barrier. An atoll lagoon is a circular coral reef or several coral islands that surround a lagoon. Atoll lagoons are often much deeper than coastal lagoons. [20]