According to origin, coral reef are classified mainly three types-
I. Fringing Reef.
II. Barrier Reef.
III. Atoll Reef.
I.Fringing Reef:
Fringing reef is a coral platforms attached to a continental coast or an island.
Characteristics:
- Fringing reef runs as a narrow belt, 0.5 km to 2.5 km wide.
- Sometimes separated by a narrow, shallow lagoon or channel.
- The surface of a fringing reef is rough.
- They developed through upward growth.
Example:
Gulf of Mannar (India), Southern Florida(USA).
II.Barrier Reef:
Barrier reef is a coral platforms separated from the the adjacent land mass by a wide deep channel.
Characteristics:
- Barrier reefs are the largest & the most extensive of all the reefs.
- It extends as a broken.
- The average slope of barrier reef is 45°.
- Lagoon or Lake is formed in the middle zone of mainland & barrier reef.
Example:
Great Barrier Reef(Australia).
III.Atoll:
Atoll is a ringing reef, which partly or completely encloses a lagoon.
Characteristics:
- Atolls are located at great distances from deep sea platforms, where the submarine features may help in formation of atolls, such as- a submerged island or a volcanic.
- An atoll surrounds a body of water called a lagoon.
- A ring shaped coral reef.
- The shallow lake of the middle of atoll is 80-140 m in depth.
Example:
Fiji Atoll, Funafuti Atoll.
Fig: Fringing reef, Barrier reef and Atoll |
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