Article
Article
Reef
Article By:
Hubbard, Dennis Geology Department, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.
Last reviewed:March 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.576800
Show previous versions
- Reef, published June 2014:Download PDF
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
A rigid and wave-resistant marine structure that stands above its surroundings. To navigators, a reef is any rocky structure that poses a threat to navigation. Marine biologists and geologists specify that reefs are constructed by organisms that secrete calcium carbonate (CaCO3) skeletons. Typically known as coral reefs (Fig. 1), these structures are ridges or masses of limestone (the common sedimentary rock composed predominantly of calcium carbonate) built up of detrital material deposited around a framework of skeletal remains of colonial corals, mollusks, calcareous algae, bryozoans, worms, and sponges. By far, corals (including scleractinians, that is, the true or stony hard corals) are the most important members of the modern reef-building organisms. See also: Calcite; Coral reef structural complexity; Limestone; Scleractinia
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
