Coral reef taller than Eiffel Tower found in Australia
Context: A 500-metre-tall coral reef discovered by Australian scientists, off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
- It was the first detached reef of that size to be discovered in over 120 years and that it was thriving with a “blizzard of fish” in a healthy ecosystem
- It lies 40 metres below the ocean surface and about six kilometres from the edge of Great Barrier Reef.
- The discovery comes after a study earlier this month found the Great Barrier Reef had lost more than half its coral in the last three decades.
- Using the underwater robot known as SuBastian, the scientists filmed their exploration of the new reef.
Great Barrier Reef
- The Great Barrier Reef runs 2,300 km down Australia's northeast coast spanning an area half the size of Texas.
- It was world heritage listed in 1981 by UNESCO as the most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem on the planet.
Coral reef:
- A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals.
- Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate.
- Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
- “Main types" of coral reef are the fringing reef, barrier reef, atoll, "bank or platform reef" and patch reef.
- Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and coastline protection.
Coral bleaching:
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