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Coral Reef: How Do Reefs Form?

Coral reefs are formed over time by tiny coral polyps that build hard outer shells from materials in seawater. When coral polyps die, their shells accumulate to form the limestone structure of the reef. Reefs provide habitat for many species of fish and other marine life. There are three main types of reefs - fringing reefs near shore, barrier reefs farther out with a lagoon between, and atolls formed from sunken volcanoes with reef growth along the rim. However, coral reefs are increasingly threatened by bleaching events, crown-of-thorns starfish, and pollution.

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99 views3 pages

Coral Reef: How Do Reefs Form?

Coral reefs are formed over time by tiny coral polyps that build hard outer shells from materials in seawater. When coral polyps die, their shells accumulate to form the limestone structure of the reef. Reefs provide habitat for many species of fish and other marine life. There are three main types of reefs - fringing reefs near shore, barrier reefs farther out with a lagoon between, and atolls formed from sunken volcanoes with reef growth along the rim. However, coral reefs are increasingly threatened by bleaching events, crown-of-thorns starfish, and pollution.

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val2015
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Coral Reef

Imagine you are snorkeling in the warm ocean water


around a tropical coral reef. You put on your mask
and swim fins. You float around looking at the reef
below you. The coral reef looks like strangely shaped
rocks sticking up from the ocean floor. Crooked coral
that looks like tree limbs twists up from cracks and
caves in the reef. A big piece of coral that looks like
a brain lies on the bottom. Orange and pink coral
shaped like fans wave in the currents. Fish of all
different shades and varieties of color swim near the
reef.

Coral reefs play an important role in ocean life. Many


kinds of plants, fish, and other animals live on and
around a coral reef. Even the reef itself is made
mostly of tiny coral animals, both living and dead.

HOW DO REEFS FORM?


Coral animals do not move around. These tiny creatures
live together in groups called colonies. One single coral
animal is called a polyp. It has a body shaped like a tube.
Its mouth is on the top of the tube. Little tentacles around
the mouth help the coral polyp catch food that floats by.
Coral animals eat microscopic sea creatures called
zooplankton.

The reef-building polyp makes a hard outer shell for itself


from materials found in seawater. When the polyp dies,
the shell is left behind. The shells from colonies of polyps
build up over time to form a rock called limestone. This
limestone becomes the inner part of the reef. The living
coral animals form the top part of the reef. As each layer
of polyps dies, their stony skeletons get added to the reef.
A new layer then grows on top of the old. This is how a
reef gets bigger.

Tiny single-celled algae called zooxanthellae live in coral


polyps. The polyp and the algae make food for one
another. The polyps could not live without the algae.

KINDS OF CORAL
There are hundreds of different kinds of coral. Hard coral
or stony coral is the kind of coral that builds reefs. These
corals have hard outer skeletons. Other corals do not have
hard outer skeletons and look like fans or flowers. Some
kinds of coral look like the branches of a tree. Other kinds
can sting you if you touch them.

THREE KINDS OF REEFS


There are three kinds of coral reefs: fringing reefs, barrier
reefs, and atolls. All three kinds grow in warm places.
Coral reefs cannot form in water colder than about 68°
Fahrenheit (about 20° Celsius). Reefs form in clear,
shallow water. They need sunlight in order for plants and
animals to live there.

Fringing reefs are close to shore. There is no lagoon or


other body of water between a fringing reef and the shore.
Barrier reefs are farther out in the ocean. There is usually
a lagoon between a barrier reef and the shore. Barrier
reefs can be huge. The largest group of reefs in the world
is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It covers thousands of
square kilometers. Atolls are really the tops of volcanoes
that sank below the sea. The reef grows on the rim of the
volcano. Inside the reef is a lagoon.

REEFS IN DANGER
Scientists fear that many coral reefs are in danger. Many
reefs have had a problem called bleaching. This occurs
when the zooxanthellae, the algae that live in polyps, die
off and the reef changes color. Then the coral polyps die.
No one knows what causes bleaching.

A starfish called the Crown of Thorns starfish is also a


threat to reefs. Sometimes too many of these starfish
suddenly show up on a reef. The starfish kill the coral. No
one knows why there are so many starfish.

Pollution is also a threat to coral reefs. Conservationists


and governments are working to protect the Great Barrier
Reef and other coral reefs.
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