Description
With their calm, stable environments, and water depth usually within the range of coral growth, lagoons potentially represent ideal and extensive habitat for reefs. Patch reefs are coral structures that reach mean sea level and rise from substrates <20 m deep. The model represents a patch reef that extends in the sheltered lagoon on the South-East side of Magoodhoo.
The reconstruction of the patch was done using drone images collected at an altitude of 30 m, which allowed to achieve a 1.5-cm/pix resolution. The lower margin of this formation is composed of massive coral colonies of Porites and Goniopora; on the upper part there are branching colonies of different species. The sediments, from the rim of the patch, are accumulated in the central region, where a sandy area is clearly visible.
Credits: model provided by Luca Fallati, MaRHE Center (https://marhe.unimib.it/).
References
- Cabioch, G., Davies, P., Done, T., Gischler, E., Macintyre, I. G., Wood, R., & Woodroffe, C. (2010). Encyclopedia of modern coral reefs: structure, form and process. Springer Science & Business Media.