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Figure 12
Information about coral reefs
Figure 12 shows information about coral reefs.
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Figure 12a shows coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, in 2016.
Figure 12b shows estimated change in sea water pH caused by human-created CO2 between the 1700s and the 1990s.
Figure 12c shows the sea surface temperature anomaly for the Coral Sea, Australia, between 1900 and 2016.
Figure 12a – coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, in 2016
Note: When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is the process of coral bleaching.
Figure 12b – estimated change in sea water pH caused by human-created CO2 between the 1700s and the 1990s
Figure 12c – sea surface temperature anomaly for the Coral Sea, Australia, between 1900 and 2016
Note: The anomaly is measured against the mean for the period 1960–1991.
[9]
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Coral reefs form in latitudes between 30o north and south of the equator. Sea temperatures ideally need to be around 26 oC. Coral reefs are unlikely to exceed depths of 50 metres.
Coral reefs form wherever there is a sufficient food source and calm water. The upwelling of cold currents around 12 oC brings an ample supply of phytoplankton and zooplankton, a key food source.
Algal blooms in the high latitudes at 60o north provide the ideal circumstances for coral reef formation. Deep water coral is found off the east coast of Australia – the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral is found anywhere on the planet. Provided the water is free from pollution and well sheltered from strong currents, some coral will form. It will not form in warm sea water.
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