Types of Coral Reef

The Andros Reef is part of the Ocean Biome. The reef can be divided into 5 major zones, the lagoon, the back reef, reef crest, innerfore reef, and outerfore reef. The Andros Barrier Reef slopes down a vertical cliff that begins 20 m below the surface and then drops off to over 2000 m or 6000 feet in to a deep ocean trench called the Tongue of the ocean.

Belize Barrier Reef, coral reef that is second in size to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the largest of its kind in the Northern and Western hemispheres.

The Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago is an unusual sight viewed from the air. In this region of the Indian Ocean, many thin ring-shaped atolls stand out against blue ocean with their extensive reef system visibly spreading offshore.

Red Sea coral reefs are particularly well developed in the north and central portions (off the coasts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan), with large sizable offshore reef complexes containing small islands, fringing reefs, and a variety of reef-associated habitats (see photo, above).

Due to Moresby's ill health, the Saya de Malha bank was his last survey in a long and brilliant career exploring and charting the archipelagos and reefs of the Indian Ocean. Artificial island project. The Saya de Malha Bank is the site of an attempt to create an artificial island by Prof. Wolf Hilbertz (1938-2007) and Dr. Thomas J. Goreau.