The secreted calcium carbonate sediments on the rocks and provides a substrate for more polyps coming to attach themselves. As more and more polyps attach, and layer over time, they create a coral reef. Calcareous Algae also add their sediments to the structure. Other organisms with calcareous skeletons, also add their own remains to the reef as they die and sink.
Since fringing reefs are the youngest and grow onshore, they tend to have less diversity of species within that ecosystem. Some locations of these reefs include Kenya, Australia and other parts of Africa shores. As the name states, these reef types border along coastlines with a very wide and deep lagoon separating the two structures.
This reef is around miles and consists of many complex reefs making it up. This type of reef is formed when the fringing reefs slowly combine with each other and form a borderline along the coast. The calcium carbonate structures attract more polyps and the spaces are filled up. It forms a line along the coast and a ring around an island. Examples are found in the Maldives and Chagos island groups, the Seychelles, and in the Cocos Island group.
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.
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. 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. Sharing is Caring!! Newsletter Updates Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss an important update!!
The diagrams make it super easy to understand this article. Thank you. Sir i couldnt get this coral reef pages in hardcopy … what is the issue. These reefs consist of two parts: the reef flat closest to shore and the reef slope facing the open ocean. Most marine life on fringing reefs live along the slope. The largest fringing reef in the world is the Ningaloo Reef along the western coast of Australia. Spanning more than miles, the Ningaloo Reef support an exceptional diversity of marine species.
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