How Was The Great Barrier Reef Formed?

The Great Barrier Reef is situated in Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is ‘the largest living structure’ and ‘the largest coral reef in the world’. The Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Site and The Great Barrier Reef is able to be seen clearly from the outer space. To know more about how was the Great Barrier Reef formed read the article further.

The Great Barrier Reef which is listed in the seven natural wonders of the world and it has been declared as State Icon of Queensland. A major and very popular Australian traveler destination, the Great Barrier Reef magnetism draws thousands of travelers and tourists from all over the world.

Location of the Great Barrier Reef:

The Great Barrier Reef is wonderful natural structure whose stretch is measures to some 1,250 miles, which is located along northeast coast of the Queensland in the Coral of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is bounded by 208,000 kilometers of the water. The water is natural breakwaters which are acting as buffer between strong waves of Pacific Ocean and Australia’s coast.

How Was The Great Barrier Reef Formed?

According to marine geoscientists, they have discovered the probability that reef which is in range of size of the Great Barrier Reef must have taken somewhere 50,000 to 100,000 years to form. The Great Barrier Reef is actually is series of some three thousand individual reefs with some thousand islands, all together forming the Great Barrier Reef. Approximately geologists have discovered some four hundred species of corals which have been found in Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is known to have in its ecosystem some myriads of two thousand different varieties of fish. Interesting thing noted is till date, 4000 species of mollusk have already been identified.

To explain how was the Great Barrier Reef formed is simple terms it could be explained as The Great Barrier Reef was formed because of rise and fall of the sea levels throughout final years of the Ice Age.

Geologists believe 1.2 million years ago, when there were some drastic changes in climatic conditions. That is when polar ice caps begin to melt; this led to increase in sea levels. There are records which are evidence for that sea levels rose and also fell at least twenty four times. And because of this continental shelf of Australia was then flooded, which in turn led the corals to growing on edges of the shelves and corals keeping with the pace with rising of sea levels which led to the formation of the Great Barrier Reef.

Basically for the formation of reef there is need of ample amount of sunlight, also reefs grow only in clean and shallow water. Reefs are made up from any of these three substances that are rock or coral or sand. The temperature that is favorable for the development of reefs is 18 degree Celsius to 30 degree Celsius.

The Great Barrier Reef is formed from the Coral. A sea animal called polyps, when forms the colonies which makes the coral reefs. Coral polyps resemble a sea anemone, which has many tentacles that is around its mouth. Countless polyps join collectively to form a colony. The Great Barrier Reef’s made of such many colonies of coral forming into reefs. Every coral polyp is linked with an alga. The photosynthesis process carried out by an alga, plays a helping the polyp in making a coral skeleton. These skeletons are actually made up of a substance called aragonite, which is form of the calcium carbonate. The coral skeletons quickly form and are foundations on which any coral reefs are built. These coral skeletons are sealed jointly by calcium carbonate that’s produced from algae. Thus the reefs like the Great Barrier Reef are formed because there is an association between a single-celled algae plant and sea animal polyps fusing together.