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Article: Coral reef crisis: is pollution harming the world's coral reefs?(earth science)
- Article from:
- SuperScience
- Article date:
- April 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If you take a dip in any of the warm tropical waters of the world, you'll most likely find rainbow-colored structures along the ocean floor. These structures, called coral reefs, are made of limestone that's been deposited by tiny animals called polyps.
There are many coral reef chains around the world, but the largest is the Great Barrier Reel located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reel which measures 207,000 square kilometers (80,000 square miles), is so large that it can be seen from the moon!
Like all coral reef chains, the Great Barrier Reef is a bustling ecosystem; it is not only home to the polyps that build them, but to ...