Coral Reefs
Abstract Coral reefs extend over about 2 x 106 km2 of the tropical oceans, making them the largest biologically constructed formations on Earth. Of the areas covered by coral reefs and associated communities living down to depths of 30 m, about 30 percent are between northern Australia, Indonesia, t...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressOxford
1997
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198233534.003.0010 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52633312/isbn-9780198233534-book-part-10.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract Coral reefs extend over about 2 x 106 km2 of the tropical oceans, making them the largest biologically constructed formations on Earth. Of the areas covered by coral reefs and associated communities living down to depths of 30 m, about 30 percent are between northern Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and continental Asia; 25 percent in the Pacific Ocean; 24 percent in the Indian Ocean; 6 percent in the Red Sea and Persian (Arabian) Gulf; 14 percent in the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic; and 1 percent in the South Atlantic. More than half the world’s coral reefs are therefore in south-eastern Asia and the Indian Ocean (Smith 1978). |
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