The Geomorphic Aspect of the Fringing Coral Reef

The Geomorphic Aspect of the Fringing Coral Reef
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Tourism forms one of the most crucial sources of revenue for most of the countries in the world. In light of the many tourist attraction sites and features coral reefs form some of the most magnificent sites to behold. The beauty of coral reefs is as mysterious and rejuvenating as their formation and structure as well as the creatures that are found in the reefs. Most of the people that have had the chance to scuba dive or watch the sceneries on video or on still photos, have the appreciation of the beauty of the coral reefs and the abundance of awe (Life.bio.sunysb.edu 2015). They form an important part of the world fisheries, relative to the fact that more than a quarter of ocean’s fish use them as nurseries, offering food and revenue to millions of people. The coral reefs also form part of the coastal protection frontier as they break the strength of the hurricanes, flooding, typhoons, tsunamis and storms (Web.stanford.edu 2015b). Consequently they reduce the amount of loss that would be incurred with frequent storms bombarding property and endangering human and animal life at the coast (Stoddart 2007). Like most tropical forests, the coral reefs are a rich source of medical remedies (Veron 2015). In some of the most recent instances the coral reefs have been used in the treatment of HIV and cancer (Riegl et al. 2009). For the people that live around the coast, the coral reefs are intrinsically woven into the culture of the people giving them subtle significance (Harvey 2015).
The coral reefs are fragile ecosystems found underwater formed of the skeletons that come from the coral; the corals are marine invertebrates (Life.bio.sunysb.edu 2015). There are hundreds of different species of corals across the globe and they come in many arrays of colors and shapes. Some have even been known to mimic the human brain shape, while others look like colored trees among other shapes (Cole and Michael). Not all corals form the coral reefs as the ones that mostly form these complex structures are referred to as hermatypic, which basically means that these are hard corals (Lallanilla 2013). Ideally, the hard corals tend to have an abundance of calcium carbonate a compound that helps with the fusion of the corals on the ocean floor under the right conditions. The calcium carbonate is extracted from the seawater by the hard corals to protect their soft inner parts. Corals are basically found across the world’s oceans; however they grow quickly in the shallow waters of the subtropics and tropic ocean waters. The largest of the world’s coral reefs collection is found in Australia, and is commonly referred to as the Great Barrier Reef. This coral reef is more than 2400 kilometers in length (Lallanilla 2013). There are hundreds of different species of corals across the globe and they come in many arrays of colors and shapes. Some have even been known to mimic the human brain shape, while others look like colored trees among other shapes. Ironically, the coral are do not cover more than 0.1% of the world surface, however they are home to more than 25% of all the species found in the marine environment, such as fish, tunicates, worms, sponges, worms, echinoderms and crustaceans (Lallanilla 2013). In the recent past they have become some of the most protected marine environments relative to human activities such as fishing, mining, tourism, climate change, pollution and sedimentation that threaten their existence (Wwf.panda.org 2015).
Relative to their structure and material they are of, most of the coral reefs that are can be seen today across the world are estimated to be between five thousand and ten thousand years old (Connolly 2005). Coral reefs are largely formed of calcareous skeletons which are deposited and bound by the corals (Veron 2015). As corals grow they absorb the calcium carbonate compound found in the sea water, which forms a hard skeleton on the outer shell to protect the softer parts of the inner parts (Endangeredspeciesinternational.org 2015). The structure and formation are developed over a long and slow process as limestone is deposited. The coral reefs structure and formation is dependent on three major zones, that is; inner reef, rest reef and the outer reefs. The outer reefs are the ones that are in direct contact with pounding waves, while the others are much more sheltered and this helps in the formation and the consequent structure and habitat the coral reef assumes (Endangeredspeciesinternational.org 2015). Between the two parts of exposure, there is the buttress zone that is constantly eroded by the waves and the deep fore reef zone that is sheltered and forms the greatest diversity of coral in the ecosystem (Web.stanford.edu 2015). As the corals build up, they form a high rising wall of corals that form a lagoon towards the land. The lagoon is basically a water body formed from the coral reef rising and forming a barrier that encloses water as the walls of coral rise.
Depending on the geographical presentation of the area where the corals are formed, there are various structures that form the basic types of coral reefs seen across the globe (Obura 2011). One of the most common coral reef structures is the fringing reef (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015). These are reefs that extend seaward from the shore and have at times a narrowly stretched body of water as a separation. They are commonly found in areas where there are shallow waters, such that when there is low water the reef flats tend to get exposed. They mostly occur on shallow seabed especially at the edges of islands or the shoreline on the mains lands. The reefs assume a flat shape. The corals may form a wall, or they may be free standing colonies and smaller dotted across the shallow waters. One other type of the coral reefs is referred to as Barrier reef (Endangeredspeciesinternational.org 2015). The most commonly known barrier reef is the Great Barrier Reef found in Australia. These reefs commonly border the shoreline however they are separated from the mainland by a lagoon, which could be considerably deep. They are formed overtime by smaller reefs that grow and form the high rising walls, called the barriers, of coral encasing water between them and the mainland (Coral-reef-info.com 2015). These type reefs are not as common and may be found along the tropical Atlantic and the pacific. The third type of coral reef is the atolls. These assume the shape of a horse shoe or circular structure, surrounding a central lagoon (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015). According to Darwinian Theory, the reefs were established through oceanic volcanoes, forming a ring of coral around the land encasing lagoon between the coral walls and the submerged land (Grigg 1982).
Corals have hundreds of species and take on different morphological types (Humann and DeLoach 2002). Relative to these differences, various corals will prefer different habitats, with varying degree of light, temperature, chemicals in the water, wave energy and level of disturbance among others. It is these differences in distribution of corals that form the zonation aspects associated with the reefs (Eoearth.org 2015). The patterns will vary depending on the coral reef types (Unc.edu 2015). It is however important to note that there are generic zones that are found on all the coral reefs. One of the major zones is referred to as the reef flat which is basically the area close to the shores of the mainland (Obura 2011). This area is characterized by shallow waters, extending from the shore to the crest of the reef. They also tend to have high temperatures and under high light intensity, which inhibits coral growth (Aronson et al. 2005). They vary width and depth, mostly getting exposed during the low tides. The other zone is referred to as the reef crest or algal ridge, which is found between the fore reef and the reef flat away from the shore. Exposed during the low tide as well, this area is however exposed more wave action (Eoearth.org 2015). Relative to this aspect, there are some corals such as short branched corals that grow at the point as they can withstand the wave action. Algae is common at this point as they compete for space and hence the name algal ridge. The fore-reef or otherwise known as the seaward slope is the zone that is farthest from the shore. As such it is the area on the oceanic side of the coral reef that slopes downwards (Marinebio.net 2015). Due to the variability in light, there is a wide range of corals, which decrease with light reduction in deeper waters. As such this zone is home to the largest population or concentration of corals.in the pacific, the corals variation have been found to extend to more than sixty meters in depth, while in the Atlantic the depth is much higher as it is around one hundred meters in depth. The buttress zone is part of the shallow area on the outer reef (Marinebio.net 2015). This is an area that is exposed to higher rate of wave action coming in from the open sea. As such, it tends to be quite rugged in nature which is why it is referred to as buttress from the buttresses that form the zone (Unc.edu 2015). The spurs are then interspersed with channels that are deep from erosion (Hughes et al. 2011). The channels tend to have funnels that act as filters which sieve through the sediments coming in from the ocean, while the buttresses act in a way to stabilize the reef (Unc.edu 2015).
Although the reef flats on the fringing reefs tend to be shallow and hence free of the coral due to the high light intensity and temperature, they have some subtle significance ecologically (Coral.org 2015). One of the major benefits is tied to the fact that they help break the storm waves there by providing protection to the rest of the habitat such as the saltmarsh, mangroves and the seagrass beds (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015). The reef flats also support quite a number of fish species that are commercially harvested. Some of the fish include the tropical rock lobsters, coral trout as well as a number of other amazingly attractive species that most of the tourists come to see at the reefs (GREER, LISA 1997). The reef flats also provide a habitat for quite a number of algae species that thrive in the well-lit waters under relatively high temperatures (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015). The diversity of fish and other species that come to the reef flats find a sustainable habitat where they can both thrive (Côté and Reynolds 2006). Other species that do not live in the reefs also use the reef flats to lay their eggs away from the turbulent waters of the ocean (Icriforum.org 2015). As such, the reef flats are really crucial to the marine ecosystem, its continuity and that of the marine animal and plant species (Hopley 2011). Protected animals such as the Hawksbill sea turtles and Green Sea turtle that feed on the reefs are highly dependent on the reef flats in the fringing reefs (Coral.org 2015). The Faltback sea turtle is also common in this habitat as it feeds on the invertebrates in the shallow waters (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015). Protected fish that rely on the reef flats include the humpheaded Maori Wrasse, Barramundi Cod and Queensland Groupers. Protected mollusc species on the other hand include Helmet, Trumpet and Giant clams all of which rely on the reefs for food and shelter. The shorebird species are common too as they depend on the invertebrates, while the sea birds depend on the fish, making the reef flats ecologically important (Ouchvolunteers.com 2015).
Of the many benefits of the coral reefs, one of the main ones is the ability to protect the coastline. As the waves come from the ocean with great force and energy, they hit the sloping face of the coral reefs (Stephens 2014). This is an aspect that breaks down the force ...