CORAL AND CORAL REEF

• Coral animals are also called “Polyp”.

• These are soft bodied With tentacles.

• The Coral secret an external CaCO3 skeleton.

CORAL REEF:‐
The budding of the polyps, forms an extensive masses Of solid substratum called as “Coral reef”.
• Coral reefs are built from the remains of the stony(or hard)coral.

• Reef building corals require warm shallow water .About 50 species of corals are capable of forming reefs.
• Coral reefs cover about 100,000 square miles of the world’s shallow marine areas.
LAGOON:- The space between the coral reefs
and island is called LAGOON.
REEF FRONT:- The seaward side has a reef
edge called REEF FRONT .
REEF CREST:- The upper part of the reef front
is called REEF CREST.
TYPES OF CORAL REEFS
On the basis of the total land mass from the
surface view, the coral reefs are classified
into three major types of coral reefs.
1.Fringing reef
2.Barrier reef
3.Atolls
1.FRINGING REEF
• This type of coral reefs found close to the
shores of some volcanic island.
• They develop through upwards growth of
reef forming corals.
• The lagoon separates the Fringing reef
from the land by quarter miles with 20 to
30 fathoms depth.
2.BARRIER REEF
• Barrier reefs are like the Fringing reefs.
But these are located away from the
shore.
• Usually parallel to the shore.
• The lagoon separates the barrier reef
from the land by 1 to 10 miles or more
with 10 to 50 fathoms depth.
3.ATOLL
• An atoll also termed as coral island or
lagoon island.
• It is a ring like, horse shoe shaped reef
that encircles a lagoon but not the island.
• The lagoon varies in width upto 40 to 50
miles across.
• Lagoon may be broken into a number of
channels.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
• Red coral and organ pipe corals collected
from the coral reefs used as medicine for
several diseases.
• The Corallium rubrum is considered as
precious stone in India and China and
treated as auspicious stone.
• Corals are also used to make jewellery.
• Control the carbon dioxide level in the
ocean water.
• Helps against the erosion and cyclonic
storm.
• Coral reefs occupy only 2% of the ocean’s
area,but are home to ¼ of marine species
THANK YOU
Name- Apanna Behera
Class- +3 1st semester(science)