platform reef

platform reef, a coral reef found on continental shelves and characterized by a primarily radial growth pattern. A platform reef may or may not lie behind a barrier reef and may undergo elongation if established on a sandbank.

Reefs grow actively outward as well as upward, especially in the stable conditions of a continental shelf. Any given reef, having depth and temperature fixed by its location, will have its shape determined by the direction and force of the water currents that bring food and by the shape of the base on which it grows. Where the forces of growth are equal in all directions, radial expansion results in platformlike reefs. With further radial growth, lagoonal platform reefs develop.

If the reef grows on a sand bank, elongation may result. The shape of an elongated platform reef may be determined by the orientation of rising and falling tidal currents. These may be directly opposed to each other. The boat-shaped reefs of Torres Strait, between Australia and New Guinea, apparently developed in such a pattern. Where wave-generated currents are asymmetric, horseshoe reefs develop, with convexity facing the current and the leeward ends curving round to partly surround a lagoon. Low Islets, made famous by the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928–29, is the best-known example of this type. A sand cay (or cays) commonly develops on one or both of the leeward wings. Those parts of Pacific platform reefs that face strong and persistent currents characteristically have a low algal rim from which radiate grooves and spurs.