Heart Reef
The Heart Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef, is a beautiful organisation of coral and rocks naturally formed into the shape of a heart. The reef was created by hundreds of years of dead coral building up in a massive, underwater stone wall, which has then grown algae and new coral, which reproduces, dies and grows year by year.
The Heart Reef is a beautiful array of stunning coral formations, naturally shaped into a heart.
Surrounded by bright blue, crystal clear water, the heart shape stands out from the barrier reef directly opposite. This amazing location has a huge reputation for hosting romantic proposals and weddings.
Heart Reef was discovered in 1975 by an Air
Whitsunday pilot, and has since become a well loved landform …show more content…
As the corals grow, the reef takes on a characteristic structure, either fringing, barrier or atoll. Fringing reefs are the most common. The create borders along shorelines and islands. Barrier reefs also go around shorelines, but from further out to sea. They are separated from the land by a lagoon of open, deep water. If a fringing reef forms around a volcanic island that is completely below sea level while the coral continues to grow upward, an atoll forms. Atolls are usually a circle or oval shaped, with a lagoon in the middle. Parts of the reef platform may emerge as islands, and gaps in the reef give access to the lagoon.
The Tectonic Plate Theory shows that the continent of Australia has moved about 7 cm per year, since the Cenozoic era. This movement caused the landmass to lift, and that raised it above the normal sea level, which has created sandbanks that coral can attach onto. The Great Barrier Reef is the result of coral growth for the past 6000-8000 years, on top of an older reef.
The Heart Reef is actually disappearing because of Global Warming, which is heating up the water and bleaching the coral, so we can’t guarantee that the reef will stay alive for the next few …show more content…
Human influenced processes of destruction towards the Heart Reef
The Heart Reef is suffering from severe coral bleaching as a result of increased water temperature, as well as the limestone reef structures loosing formation because of ocean acidification, and damage to the reef due to bad weather conditions like flooding and cyclones. These issues are mainly from Global Climate Change, which has so many terrible effects on reefs.
Sedimentation/Siltation- Natural processes of destruction towards the Heart Reef
Agriculture and construction sites are eroding away, and this creates high levels of silt (such as fine sand and clay) in waterways. This prevents new coral colonies forming and stops old coral from re-colonizing, decreases water quality, and stops light getting through to smaller plants that need light to survive.
Sustainability
Will the Heart Reef still be there for our children to enjoy? With the current state of the reef, the answer is no. the world is growing and changing, and technology is forever getting better and better, with nothing anyone can do about it. Sadly, with each IPhone is produced, the level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere increases, which makes the ocean temperature higher, therefore bleaching the coral and killing the sea life. 29 percent of the reef has died since December
The Heart Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef, is a beautiful organisation of coral and rocks naturally formed into the shape of a heart. The reef was created by hundreds of years of dead coral building up in a massive, underwater stone wall, which has then grown algae and new coral, which reproduces, dies and grows year by year.
The Heart Reef is a beautiful array of stunning coral formations, naturally shaped into a heart.
Surrounded by bright blue, crystal clear water, the heart shape stands out from the barrier reef directly opposite. This amazing location has a huge reputation for hosting romantic proposals and weddings.
Heart Reef was discovered in 1975 by an Air
Whitsunday pilot, and has since become a well loved landform …show more content…
As the corals grow, the reef takes on a characteristic structure, either fringing, barrier or atoll. Fringing reefs are the most common. The create borders along shorelines and islands. Barrier reefs also go around shorelines, but from further out to sea. They are separated from the land by a lagoon of open, deep water. If a fringing reef forms around a volcanic island that is completely below sea level while the coral continues to grow upward, an atoll forms. Atolls are usually a circle or oval shaped, with a lagoon in the middle. Parts of the reef platform may emerge as islands, and gaps in the reef give access to the lagoon.
The Tectonic Plate Theory shows that the continent of Australia has moved about 7 cm per year, since the Cenozoic era. This movement caused the landmass to lift, and that raised it above the normal sea level, which has created sandbanks that coral can attach onto. The Great Barrier Reef is the result of coral growth for the past 6000-8000 years, on top of an older reef.
The Heart Reef is actually disappearing because of Global Warming, which is heating up the water and bleaching the coral, so we can’t guarantee that the reef will stay alive for the next few …show more content…
Human influenced processes of destruction towards the Heart Reef
The Heart Reef is suffering from severe coral bleaching as a result of increased water temperature, as well as the limestone reef structures loosing formation because of ocean acidification, and damage to the reef due to bad weather conditions like flooding and cyclones. These issues are mainly from Global Climate Change, which has so many terrible effects on reefs.
Sedimentation/Siltation- Natural processes of destruction towards the Heart Reef
Agriculture and construction sites are eroding away, and this creates high levels of silt (such as fine sand and clay) in waterways. This prevents new coral colonies forming and stops old coral from re-colonizing, decreases water quality, and stops light getting through to smaller plants that need light to survive.
Sustainability
Will the Heart Reef still be there for our children to enjoy? With the current state of the reef, the answer is no. the world is growing and changing, and technology is forever getting better and better, with nothing anyone can do about it. Sadly, with each IPhone is produced, the level of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere increases, which makes the ocean temperature higher, therefore bleaching the coral and killing the sea life. 29 percent of the reef has died since December