Image:Coral reef diagram.jpg
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Coral_reef_diagram.jpg (491 × 326 pixel, file size: 17 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
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Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs025-02/
Caption: Colonial “hard corals” form elaborate finger-shaped, branching, or mound-shaped structures and can create masses of limestone that stretch for tens or even hundreds of miles. Many coral reefs fringing coasts consist of nearshore inner reef flats that slope to deeper water fore reefs farther offshore. The reef crest, between the inner reef flat and outer fore reef, lies in extremely shallow water and may be exposed during the lowest tides. Waves commonly crash against or break on the reef crest. Fringing reefs help to protect harbors, beaches, and shorelines from erosion and wave damage by storms.
Graphic Design By Susan Mayfield and Sara Boore
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This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the United States Geological Survey, an agency of the United States Department of Interior. For more information, see the official USGS copyright policy |
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