Part I: Coral Reefs Launch Google Earth and turn off all layers. A. Search for t

Question

Part I: Coral Reefs

Launch Google Earth and turn off all layers.

A. Search for the Great Barrier
Reef in Australia, and zoom out to an eye altitude of ~300 km.
Follow the reef up and down the coast. Choose a smaller feature
(such as the one pictured at
right) and create an elevation
profile for it. What is the
approximate thickness of the
reef? __________________ m

What organism is primarily
responsible for creating the
reef? Describe the
organism, what it needs to
survive, and any other
interesting facts about this
type of organism. Based on
these details, do you expect to find reefs near deltas, or in deep water? Why or why not? (CITE, 1-2 paragraphs)

What type of rock (both general type- igneous/metamorphic/sedimentary- and specific name) will the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) become if it is preserved?
(3-4 sentences)

How do changes in climate impact reefs (CITE, 1 paragraph)?

Include a Works Cited section at the end of this section. Include complete

bibliographic information for all of the citations. Within the text include in-text citations.

Explanation / Answer

Elevation of Great Barrier Reef- approximately 40m.

Coral reefs are distinctive and composite systems. These are the largest structures on earth of biological origin. Corals are anthozoans, which is the largest class of organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. It consists of over 6,000 known species, anthozoans also comprise of sea fans, sea pansies and anemones. Stony corals (scleractinians) are the largest order of anthozoans. Stony corals are the main foundations of reef structures. These are colonial organisms composed of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individuals, called polyps. Polyp secretes a skeleton of calcium carbonate. Most stony corals have very minute polyps, its size varies from one to three millimeters in diameter, but the complete group can grow very huge and weigh several tons. These coral colonies consist of around millions of polyps which develop on top of the limestone remnants of previous colonies and finally forming massive reefs.

Generally, massive corals tend to grow slowly from size from 0.5 to two centimeters per year. But under favorable conditions with sufficient light, reliable temperature and moderate wave action, some species may grow as much as 4.5 centimeters per year.

In modern days, some group of corals grows in grove and woods which develop in banks rather than reefs on the outer, deeper, colder, and darker parts of continental shelves and platforms. In any one thicket there are generally two genera of precisely branching corals occupied. Such coral banks are found along the eastern Atlantic continental slope from Norway to the Cape Verde islands, in the Niger River delta and in the Orinoco River delta. Some coral reefs group of the modern seas is connected with colder or deeper seas. These comprise of tiny, solitary corals of moderately small number of genera, found in the abyssal floors of the oceans and from the shelves around Antarctica.

Some of the Great Barrier Reef islands have a foundation of igneous rocks, mainly granite or volcanic.

Climate changes and coral reefs

The global warming and the associated climate change impact the corals and change coral reef colonies by causing coral bleaching and altering the ocean chemistry. It also changes the coral reefs as habitat.

Warmer water temperatures due to the climate change strains the corals since they are very sensitive to variations in temperature. If oceanr temperatures constantly increasing for many weeks, the zooxanthellae they depend on for some of their food leave their tissue. In the absence of zooxanthellae, corals turn to white because zooxanthellae give corals their color. White, damaging corals are called bleached. Bleached corals are weak and less able to fight with disease.

Bleaching events on coral reefs in the ocean were first observed in 1998. In some Pacific islands, a small of bleaching is common in the summer; but, there have been times when bleaching are particularly bad in this region. As climate change(global warming) continues, bleaching will also more common, and generally the health of coral reefs will decline.

References

http://australianmuseum.net.au/great-barrier-reef

http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/oceans_and_marine/priority_ocean_places/great_barrier_reef/

http://www.britannica.com/science/coral-reef

http://www.livescience.com/6290-great-barrier-reef.html

http://www.teachoceanscience.net/teaching_resources/education_modules/coral_reefs_and_climate_change/how_does_climate_change_affect_coral_reefs/

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse P
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.