A coral reef that grows directly attached to and extending outward from a shoreline, typically the earliest stage in a reef's development around a volcanic island, with little or no lagoon separating the reef from the coast it borders. As the island it surrounds gradually subsides, a fringing reef can evolve first into a barrier reef and eventually into an atoll.
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Shaped By
Source Fringing reef (Wikipedia)
Sources
Wikidata: Fringing Reef
Wikidata Q24573969, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Fringing reef (Wikipedia)
Shaped By: Sea Level Change, Formation statement for target 287776Quote, Shaped By: Sea Level Change, Formation statement for target 287776
Most coral reefs were formed after the Last Glacial Period when melting ice caused sea level to rise and flood continental shelves.
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