Coral Reef

 

"This coral coast is the drowned world of the offshore reef and the . . . shallow reef flats with their fringing, rocky rim, it is also the green world of the mangrove, silent, mysterious, always changing–eloquent of a life force strong enough to alter the visible face of its world."

pp. 239-240.


". . . the massive structures of the reefs can be built only where the coral animals are bathed by waters warm enough to favor the secretion of their calcareous skeletons. . . . creates a living wall."

pp. 191-192.

Value of reefs | | Edge of the Sea chapter on Coral Coast | | Corals and climate | | Interglacial seas

The Edge of the Sea.

Coastal zones | Coral communities as cosatal indicators | Coral keys | Coral coasts