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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Geography

Lecture – 46
Oceanography - Coral Reefs
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Oceanography - Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs:
❖ Coral reefs are built by and made up of thousands of tiny animals, coral
“polyps”, that are related to anemones and jellyfish.
❖ Polyps are shallow water organisms that have a soft body covered by a
calcareous skeleton. The polyps extract calcium salts from seawater to form
these hard skeletons.
❖ The polyps live in colonies fastened to the rocky sea floor.
❖ The tubular skeletons grow upwards and outwards as a cemented calcareous rocky mass, collectively called
Corals.
❖ These are the living organism situated in the submarine zones. They are formed due to the
accumulation and compaction of lime secreting coral polyps and dead corals.
❖ There is a symbiotic relationship with the coral polyps. These are located in tropical zones- 25 degrees
north to 25 degrees south.
❖ These are submarine animals which cannot tolerate a high range of temperatures.
❖ When the coral polyps die, they shed their skeleton [coral] on which new polyps grow.
❖ The cycle is repeated for over millions of years leading to the accumulation of layers of corals [Shallow rock
created by these depositions is called reef].
❖ These layers at different stages give rise to various marine landforms. One such important landform is called
Coral Reef.
❖ Coral Reefs, over a period of time, transform or evolve into coral islands (As seen in Lakshadweep).
❖ The corals occur in different forms and colours, depending upon the nature of the salts or constituents they are
made of.
❖ Small marine plants (algae) also deposit calcium carbonate contributing to coral growth.

Corals They are a combination of Algae in soft tissue covered by a hard skeletal structure.

Coral Reefs These are structures formed due to the deposition of layers after layers of coral
polyps.
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Corals and Zooxanthellae (Symbiotic Relationship):

❖ Many invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants live in close
association with corals, with tight resource coupling and
recycling, allowing coral reefs to have extremely high
productivity and biodiversity, such that they are referred
to as ‘the Tropical Rainforests of the Oceans’.
❖ Corals receive their nutrient and energy resources in two
ways.
➢ They use to capture tiny planktonic organisms with
their tentacles.
➢ Having a symbiotic relationship with single-cell algae
known as Zooxanthellae.
❖ Zooxanthellae are autotrophic [prepare their own
food] micro-algae.
❖ Zooxanthellae live symbiotically within the coral polyp
tissues and assist the coral in nutrient production through
its photosynthetic activities.
❖ These activities provide the coral with fixed carbon compounds for energy, enhance calcification, and mediate
elemental nutrient flux.
❖ The host coral polyp in return provides its zooxanthellae with a protected environment to live within, and a
steady supply of carbon dioxide for its photosynthetic processes.
❖ The symbiotic relationship allows the slow-growing corals to compete with the faster-growing
multicellular algae. The corals can feed by day through photosynthesis and by night through predation.
❖ The tissues of corals themselves are actually not the beautiful colors of the coral reef but are instead clear. The
corals receive their coloration from the Zooxanthellae living within their tissues.
Ideal Conditions for Coral Growth:
❖ Stable Climatic Conditions: Corals are highly susceptible to quick changes. They grow in regions where the
climate is significantly stable for a long period of time.
❖ Perpetually Warm Waters: Corals thrive in tropical waters [30°North and 30°South latitudes, the
temperature of the water is around 20-21°C] where diurnal and annual temperature ranges are very narrow
(cannot tolerate high/low temperatures).
❖ Abundant Plankton: Adequate supply of oxygen and microscopic marine food, called plankton
[phytoplankton], is essential for growth.
➢ As the plankton is more abundant on the seaward side, corals grow rapidly on the seaward side.
❖ Salinity: The favourable salinity condition for corals is around 31-33%. It cannot sustain in high salinity
conditions. Salts are utilised by the corals' polyps.
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❖ Depth: The favourable depth for the survival of corals is 60-77 meters or 200-300 feet. In higher depths,
corals die due to a lack of sunlight and lack of oxygen.
❖ Little or No Pollution: Corals are highly fragile and are vulnerable to climate change and pollution and even
a minute increase in marine pollution can be catastrophic.
➢ If the turbidity is high, there is no sunlight resulting in clogging of the mouth of coral polyps.
➢ There should not be any oil spillage, industrial discharge, and chemical infiltration.
➢ Corals cannot thrive in front of the river mouth, because fresh water is injurious to the health of corals
due to less salinity and deposition of sediments.
❖ Ocean Currents: These are very crucial for maintaining conducive conditions like temperature, salinity etc.
❖ Submarine Platform: There should be extensive submarine platforms to form coral colonies. It also helps in
growing the variety of marine organisms which provides a conducive environment for corals.
➢ With the use of Biorock technology, the government is providing a conducive platform for the
development of coral reefs.

Development Of Major Coral Reef Types:

❖ The basic coral reef classification scheme was
first proposed by Charles Darwin and is still
widely used today.
❖ Darwin theorized that fringing reefs began to
grow near the shorelines of new islands as
ecological conditions became ideal for hard
coral growth.
❖ Then, as the island began to gradually subside
into the sea, the coral was able to keep pace in
terms of growth and remained in place at the sea
surface, but farther from shore; it was now a
barrier reef.
❖ Eventually, the island disappeared below the sea surface, leaving only the ring of coral encircling the central
lagoon; an atoll had formed.
Steps in the Development of Corals:
❖ Step 1: A fringing reef forms first, and starts
growing in the shallow waters close to a tropical
island.
❖ Step 2: Over time, the island subsides and the
reef grows outwards, and the distance between
the land and the reef increases.
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➢ The fringing reef develops into a barrier reef.

❖ Step 3: If the island completely subsides, all that is left is the reef.
➢ The reef retains the approximate shape of the island it grew around, forming a ring enclosing a lagoon.
Coral Reef Relief Features and Types:
❖ Fringing Reef, Barrier Reef, and Atoll (coral islands
are formed on atolls) are the most important relief
features.
Fringing Reefs (Shore Reefs):
❖ Fringing reefs are reefs that grow directly from a
shore. Example: Sakau Island.
❖ They are located very close to land, and often form a
shallow lagoon between the beach and the main
body of the reef.
❖ A fringing reef runs as a narrow belt [1-2 km wide].
❖ This type of reef grows from the deep sea bottom with
the seaward side sloping steeply into the deep sea.
❖ These may/may not have lagoons.
❖ Coral Polyps do not extend outwards because of a
sudden and large increase in depth.
❖ The fringing reef is by far the most common of the
three major types of coral reefs, with numerous examples in all major regions of coral reef development.
❖ Fringing reefs can be seen at the New Hebrides Society islands off Australia and off the southern coast of
Florida.
Lagoon:
❖ A lagoon refers to a comparatively wide band of water that lies between the
shore and the main area of reef development.

Barrier Reefs:
❖ Barrier reefs are extensive linear reef complexes that lie
parallel to a shore, and are separated from it by the lagoon.
❖ This is the largest (in size, not distribution) of the three reefs,
runs for hundreds of kilometres, and is several kilometres
wide.
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❖ It extends as a broken, irregular ring around the coast or an island, running almost parallel to it.
❖ Barrier reefs are far less common than fringing reefs or atolls, although examples can be found in the
tropical Atlantic as well as the Pacific.
❖ The 1200-mile long Great Barrier Reef off the Northeastern coast of Australia is the world's largest
example of this reef type.
❖ The Great Barrier Reef is not actually a single reef as the name implies, but rather a very large complex
consisting of many reefs.
❖ Sometimes barrier reefs divide in the form of small patches which is called patch reef.
Atolls:
❖ An atoll is a roughly circular (annular) oceanic reef
system surrounding a large (and often deep) central
lagoon.
❖ The lagoon has a depth of 80-150 metres (240-250 feet)
and may be joined with sea water through a number of
channels cutting across the reef.
❖ Atolls are usually circular or oval, with a central lagoon.
Parts of the reef platform may emerge as one or more
islands, and gaps in the reef provide access to the central
lagoon.
❖ Atolls are far more common in the Pacific than in any other ocean.
❖ The Fiji atoll and the Funafuti atoll in Ellice/Island are well-known examples of atolls. A large 'number of
atolls also occur in the Lakshadweep Islands.
❖ In the South Pacific, most atolls occur in mid-ocean.
❖ Examples of this reef type are common in French Polynesia, the Caroline and Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, and the Cook Islands.
❖ The Indian Ocean also contains numerous atoll formations.
❖ Examples are found in the Maldives and Chagos island groups, Seychelles, and in the Cocos Island group.
Distribution in India:
❖ The major reef formations in India are restricted to the Gulf of
Mannar, Palk Bay, Gulf of Kutch, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands and the Lakshadweep Islands. While the Lakshadweep
reefs are atolls, the others are all fringing reefs.
❖ Patchy coral is present in the inter-tidal areas of the central
west coast of the country.
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Distribution Across the World:

Coral Bleaching:
❖ Disturbances affecting coral reefs include
anthropogenic and natural events.
❖ Recent accelerated coral reef decline is related mostly
to anthropogenic impacts (overexploitation,
overfishing, increased sedimentation, and nutrient
overloading).
❖ In 1919, Alfred Mayor, noticed that around 70% of the
reefs are undergoing effects of bleaching. It is visible
near Lakshadweep, Andamans, Kenya, etc.
❖ Natural disturbances which cause damage to coral reefs include violent storms, flooding, high and low-
temperature extremes, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, sub-aerial exposures, predatory
outbreaks, and epizootics.
❖ Coral reef bleaching is a common stress response of corals to many of the various disturbances mentioned
above.
❖ Bleaching occurs when the densities of Zooxanthellae decline and/or the concentration of photosynthetic
pigments within the zooxanthellae falls.[it is no more use for the coral and the coral will bleach it]
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❖ When corals bleach they commonly lose 60-90% of their zooxanthellae and each zooxanthellae may lose 50-
80% of its photosynthetic pigments.
❖ If the stress-causing bleaching is not too severe and if it decreases in time, the affected corals usually
regain their symbiotic algae within several weeks or a few months.
❖ If zooxanthellae loss is prolonged, i.e. if the stress continues and depleted zooxanthellae populations do not
recover, the coral host eventually dies.
Causes of Coral Bleaching:
❖ Temperature:- Coral species live within a relatively narrow
temperature margin, and anomalously low and high sea temperatures
[corals are absent on the west coast of tropical temperate continents
because of the cold currents] can induce coral bleaching.
➢ Bleaching events occur during sudden temperature drops
accompanying intense upwelling episodes [ In 1983, 1998, 1987
El-Nino], and seasonal cold-air outbreaks. While most reefs
recovered, with low levels of coral deaths, the damage has been
severe in many places.
➢ This is an instance of coral reefs' susceptibility to increased water
temperatures combined with Ocean Acidification.
➢ While the rising temperatures have increased the frequency and
intensity of bleaching, acidification has reduced corals calcifying
ability.
➢ Small temperature increase over many weeks or a large increase
(3-4 °C) over a few days will result in coral dysfunction.
➢ Coral bleaching has occurred mostly during the summer seasons
or near the end of a protracted warming period.
➢ They are reported to have taken place during times of low wind velocity, clear skies, calm seas, and low
turbidity.
➢ The conditions favor localized heating and High Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation.
➢ Ultraviolet radiation readily penetrates clear sea waters. The corals actually contain UV-absorbing
compounds that can block potentially damaging UV radiation. But rising temperatures mean a reduction in
the concentration of these UV-absorbing compounds in corals.
❖ Sub aerial Exposure:- Sudden exposure of reef flat corals to the atmosphere during events such as extreme
low tides, ENSO-related sea level drops or tectonic uplift can potentially induce bleaching.
➢ The consequent exposure to high or low temperatures, increased solar radiation, desiccation, and sea water
dilution by heavy rains could all play a role in zooxanthellae loss, but could also very well lead to coral
death.
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❖ Fresh Water Dilution:- Rapid dilution of reef waters from storm-generated precipitation and runoff has been
demonstrated to cause coral reef bleaching.
➢ Generally, such bleaching events are rare and confined to relatively small, near-shore areas.
➢ Dumping of wastage along with the wetlands.
❖ Destructive Fishing: Due to the use of big trollers for deep fishing.
❖ Mining of Corals for commercial, laboratory, and industrial purposes. It leads to the destruction of the
colonies.
❖ Inorganic Nutrients: Rather than causing coral reef bleaching, an increase in ambient elemental nutrient
concentrations (e.g. ammonia and nitrate) actually increases zooxanthellae densities 2-3 times.
➢ Although eutrophication is not directly involved in zooxanthellae loss, it could cause secondary adverse
effects such as lowering of coral resistance and greater susceptibility to diseases.
❖ Xenobiotics: When corals are exposed to high concentrations of chemical contaminants like copper,
herbicides, and oil, coral bleaching happens.
❖ Epizootics: Pathogen-induced bleaching is different from other sorts of bleaching.
➢ Most coral diseases cause patchy or whole colony death and sloughing of soft tissues, resulting in a white
skeleton (not to be confused with bleached corals).
➢ Some common diseases are Coral Plague, Black Band Disease, White Band disease, etc.
Spatial and Temporal Range of Coral Bleaching:
❖ Nearly all of the world’s major coral reef regions (Caribbean/ western Atlantic, eastern Pacific, central and
western Pacific, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf, Red Sea) experienced some degree of coral bleaching and
mortality during the 1980s.
❖ Prior to the 1980s, most mass coral mortalities were related to non-thermal disturbances such as storms, and
aerial exposures during extreme low tides.
❖ Coral bleaching accompanied some of the mortality events prior to the 1980s during periods of elevated sea
water temperature, but these disturbances were geographically isolated and restricted to particular reefs zones.
❖ In contrast, many of the coral bleaching events observed in the 1980s occurred over large geographic regions
and at all depths.
Bleaching May also be Beneficial:
❖ Recent research has revealed that corals that are consistently exposed to low levels of stress may develop some
kind of resistance to bleaching.

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