Great Barrier Reef Formation

Many generations of dead coral have built themselves into great walls of stone covered in a diverse range of living organisms such as coral algae anemones sponges fish worms starfish turtles molluscs snakes crustaceans and an extraordinary array of thousands of species of plants and animals.

Great barrier reef formation. The great barrier reef is the world s largest coral reef system composed of over 2 900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2 300 kilometres 1 400 mi over an area of approximately 344 400 square kilometres 133 000 sq mi. The great barrier reef that we know today actually sits on what is the remains of the sediments of the great dividing range a huge mountain system. The reef is located in the coral sea off the coast of queensland australia the great barrier reef can be seen from outer space and is the world s biggest. The current reef is about 6 000 to 8 000 years old and was formed after the last ice age began to recede and water levels and temperatures rapidly changed.

The water environment of the great barrier reef is formed by the surface water layer of the southwestern pacific ocean. Corals began to form around the base of these mountains which at the time were continental islands. Barrier reefs and atolls of french polynesia are surrounded by warm and clear oligotrophic water of the south pacific gyre. The great barrier reef formed from a long and slow process involving the accumulation of organic materials such as stone plants and animals and shells of dead corals.

Das great barrier reef erstreckt sich nordöstlich an der ostküste des bundesstaates queensland im korallenmeer von der torres straße bis zur lady elliot insel die etwa 75 kilometer nordöstlich von. Coral reefs began forming in the region about between 58 and 48 million years ago when the coral sea basin formed. The great barrier reef started forming approximately 20 million years ago. As the island sinks the coral reef continues to grow upward.

A barrier reef forms as the oceanic island begins to sink into earth s crust due to the absence of volcanic island building forces the added weight of the coral reef and erosion at the surface of the island. Surface water temperature is high ranging from 70 to 100 f 21 to 38 c. After a successful expedition mapping the northern great barrier reef r v falkor will traverse to the southern reaches of the great barrier reef world heritage area. However once the australian continent moved to its present location sea levels began to change and coral reefs started to grow quickly but changing climate and sea levels after that caused them to grow and decline in cycles.

Im jahr 1981 wurde es von der unesco zum weltnaturerbe erklärt und wird auch als eines der sieben weltwunder der natur bezeichnet. The formation of the reef. The reef waters show little seasonal variation. The goal of the expedition is to explore ancient undersea features that formed during the last ice age when sea level was almost 120m lower than it is today.

The geologic formation of the great barrier reef is long and complex. The great barrier reef is an extremely ancient enormous host of living things composed of living coral growing on dead coral dating back perhaps as much as twenty million years.