AUSTRALIAN HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICE
Australian scientists have discovered vast fields of donut-shaped, reef-like structures known as bioherms stretching behind and around the Great Barrier Reef. “We’ve now mapped over 6,000 square kilometers. That’s three times the previously estimated size, spanning from the Torres Strait to just north of Port Douglas,” said Mardi McNeil of Queensland University of Technology in a statement. “They clearly form a significant inter-reef habitat which covers an area greater than the adjacent coral reefs.”
Bioherms are formed by the calcium carbonate remains of a common green algae that has a calcified stem. The white, pebble-size flakes gradually accumulate into circular mounds on the sea floor. A single mound can span as much as 300 meters across and reach 10 meters deep at the center. Scientists ...
