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Coral Reef Formation

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Priyanka Sethi
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15 views

Coral Reef Formation

Uploaded by

Priyanka Sethi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PG Department Of Zoology

Fakir mohan autonomous college,Balasore


CORAL REEF FORMATION

Priyanka Sethi, PG 2nd semester


Roll no:-PZ-22-005, Guided
by:- Namrata Singh
CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Corals
 Coral reef
 Theories of origin of coral
reef
 Types of coral reef formation
 Value of corals
 Conclusion
 References
INTRODUCTION
1) Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. They team with
life, with perhaps one-quarter of all ocean species depending on reefs for
food and shelter.
2 )This is a remarkable statistic when you consider that reefs cover just a tiny
fraction
(less than one percent) of the earth’s surface and less than two percent of the
ocean
bottom.
3) Because they are so diverse, coral reefs are often called the rainforests of the
sea.
4) Coral reefs are also very important to people. The value of coral reefs has
been
estimated at 30 billion U.S. dollars .
Coral reef in deep
sea
Corals
1)Corals are marine invertebrates with in class Anthozoa of the phylum
Cnidaria.
2)They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps.
3)Corals species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical
oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton .
4)A coral group is a colony of identical polyps.
5)Polyp is a sac like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and
few centimeters in length. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth
opening.
6)An exoskeleton is secreted near the base. Over many generations, the
colony
thus creates a large skeleton characteristics of the species.
7)Individuals heads grow by asexual reproduction of polyps. Corals also
breed sexually by spawning.
8)Spawning happens when polyps of the same species release gametes
simultaneously over a period of one to several nights around a full
moon.
Coral reef
1) A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef building
corals. 2)Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium
carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyp cluster in
groups.
3)often called ‘rainforests of the sea’, shallow coral reefs form some of earth’s
most diverse ecosystem. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world’s ocean area,
about half of the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all
marine species in mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges,
tunicates and other cnidarians.
4)Coral reefs flourish in ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They
are commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water
and cold water coral reefs exist on smaller scales in other areas.
5)Some of the notable coral reefs are great barrier reef Australia,
Amazon reef, some coral reefs are also seen in Andaman and Nicobar
islands of India.
Theories of origin of coral reef

There are many theories regarding to the origin of coral reef but only 2 main
theories
are taken into consideration.
1)Subsidence theory of Darwin :-The subsidence hypothesis of coral reef
development was proposed by Charles Darwin. It states that fringing reefs,
Barrier reefs and atolls represent successive stages in an evolutionary sequence.
2)Glacial control theory:- This theory was proposed by Dally. He described that
due to the melting of glaciers, it gives rise to several flat platforms in ocean with
favourable temperatures which helps to grow many types of corals.
TYPES OF CORAL REEF FORMATION
• Scientists generally divide coral reefs into 3 classes : Fringing reefs,
Barrier
reefs, atolls.
• Fringing reef:- It grow near the coastline around islands and continents.
Fringing reefs are separated from the shore by narrow lagoons. Fringing reef
is the most common type of reef that we see. The largest coral reef in the
world is the Ningaloo reef ,stretching to around 260km along the coastline of
western Australia.
Barrier reef:-These are also parallel to the coastline but are separated by
deeper,
wider lagoons. It is 20metres-100metres deep, so it is suitable for navigation.
The Great barrier reef in Australia is the largest and most famous barrier reef in
the world.
Atoll:-Atoll is also termed as coral island or lagoon island. It is a ring like or
horse shoe shaped reef that encircles a lagoon but not an island. The lagoon
may be complete or may be broken by a number of channels of which only a
few are navigable. The atoll of bikine, famous for atomic and hydrogen
bomb test, lies in the pacific ocean.
Value of corals
1)Healthy coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and
economically valuable and vital ecosystem services.
2)Coral ecosystems are a source of food for millions.
3)Coral ecosystems protect coastline from storms and erosion,
provide habitat, spawning and nursery ground for economically
important fish species; provides jobs and income to local economies
from fishing.
4)It is also a source of new medicines and hotspot of marine
biodiversity.
CONCLUSION
• 1)Pollution, overfishing, destructive fishing practices using dynamite or
cyanide,
collecting live corals for aquarium market, mining coral for building
materials, and a warming climate are some of many ways that people damage
reefs all around the world everyday.
2)Coral reef destruction is also caused by natural phenomenon such as
earthquakes and hurricanes.
3)As coral reef is essential for our economy as well as biodiversity ,we should
take steps to stop the destruction by addressing the the larger impacts to reefs
; land based pollution, overfishing, and most importantly climate change.
REFERENCES

1)https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/corals-and-coral-
reefs 2)https://news.mit.edu/2021/microbes-coral-reefs-health-0108
3)Invertebrate zoology, P. S Verma, 1963

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