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What is the Great Barrier Reef?
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Learn how big the Great Barrier Reef is and why it is the world's largest living structure. Find out some big facts, compare it with other countries and see a map of the reef.
- Great Barrier Reef Facts
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef...
- Great Barrier Reef Facts
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).
Oct 19, 2023 · Learn about the biodiversity, threats, and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef, which extends for over 2,300 kilometers along the northeastern coast of Australia. The reef contains over 9,000 species and is crucial for tourism and the economy.
- Overview
- Geography
Great Barrier Reef, complex of coral reefs, shoals, and islets in the Pacific Ocean off the northeastern coast of Australia that is the longest and largest reef complex in the world. The Great Barrier Reef extends in roughly a northwest-southeast direction for more than 1,250 miles (2,000 km), at an offshore distance ranging from 10 to 100 miles (1...
The reef actually consists of some 2,100 individual reefs and some 800 fringing reefs (formed around islands or bordering coastlines). Many are dry or barely awash at low tide; some have islands of coral sand, or cays; and others fringe high islands or the mainland coast. In spite of this variety, the reefs share a common origin: each has been formed, over millions of years, from the skeletons and skeletal waste of a mass of living marine organisms. The “bricks” in the reef framework are formed by the calcareous remains of the tiny creatures known as coral polyps and hydrocorals, while the “cement” that binds these remains together is formed in large part by coralline algae and bryozoans. The interstices of this framework have been filled in by vast quantities of skeletal waste produced by the pounding of the waves and the depredations of boring organisms.
European exploration of the reef began in 1770, when the British explorer Capt. James Cook ran his ship aground on it. The work of charting channels and passages through the maze of reefs, begun by Cook, continued during the 19th century. The Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928–29 contributed important knowledge about coral physiology and the ecology of coral reefs. A modern laboratory on Heron Island continues scientific investigations, and several studies have been undertaken in other areas.
The reef has risen on the shallow shelf fringing the Australian continent, in warm waters that have enabled the corals to flourish (they cannot exist where average temperatures fall below 70 °F [21 °C]). Borings have established that reefs were growing on the continental shelf as early as the Miocene Epoch (23.0 million to 5.3 million years ago). Subsidence of the continental shelf has proceeded, with some reversals, since the early Miocene.
Britannica Quiz
Wonders of the World Quiz
The water environment of the Great Barrier Reef is formed by the surface water layer of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The reef waters show little seasonal variation: surface-water temperature is high, ranging from 70 to 100 °F (21 to 38 °C). The waters are generally crystal-clear, with submarine features clearly visible at depths of 100 feet (30 metres).
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system and is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs. Area: 348,700 km² (133,000 sq miles) or 34,870,000 ha. Width: The reef ranges between 60 and 250 kilometres in width.
Learn about the size, diversity, and history of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on the planet. The Reef covers 348,000 km2 of World Heritage area, including 980 islands, coral reefs, and other marine habitats.
Jun 16, 2024 · Learn about the Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on Earth, and its location, size, and biodiversity. The reef is a marine protected area of about 133,000 square miles off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
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