How Did The Great Barrier Reef Form

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.

How did the great barrier reef form. These reefs grow close to the coast in shallow waters. The land that forms the base of the great barrier reef is the remains of the sediments of the great dividing range australia s largest mountain range. 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. Nat geo wild shares the history in this short video.

Geology of the great barrier reef the geologic formation of the great barrier reef is long and complex. Bleaching was more severe in 2002 when aerial surveys showed that over 50 of reefs experienced some coral bleaching. Coral reefs began forming in the region about between 58 and 48 million years ago when the coral sea basin formed. About 13 000 years ago the sea level was 200.

The great barrier reef started forming approximately 20 million years ago. Learn how the great barrier reef formed off the coast of australia and see its beauty from above. They are separated from land by a lagoon. 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.

The great barrier reef has experienced two mass coral bleaching events in 1998 and 2002. 20 000 years ago this area wasn t even underwater. The formation of the reef. Once sea levels began to rise the growth of coral began to creep up the mountains which were eventually completely submerged leaving behind small islands barrier reefs and atolls that we know and see today.

Those corals which now sit alone out in the ocean are what we know as the great barrier reef. It was at this time that reefs began to form around islands that were created by a submerged coastal plain formed by sediments of an eroding mountain range the great dividing range australia s largest. 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. Reefs formed around these islands but as the sea levels rose and the continental islands were submerged they left behind coral formations with continued to grow.

Barrier reefs like the great barrier reef are large continuous reefs. 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. Warmer ocean temperatures put stress on coral and lead to coral bleaching. Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to the great barrier reef.

The reefs and cays that sit. Atolls are ring shaped and located near the sea surface. 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.