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International Journal of Marine Science 2014, Vol.4, No.39: 1-4
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3
and Baitylong archipelago may represent the
foundation for the development of reefs with typical
zonation. Under certain circumstances, the active
growth of monospecific settlements of the second
zone may promote the establishment of a porous
skeleton, which is necessary for the formation of the
structure of the real reef.
When such a reef crust is formed, more species settle
and the primary framework of the reef grow vertically
to the intertidal level (Figure 4). A porous framework
of cemented benthic organisms is formed, which are
mostly dead. A young fringing reef forms with a reef
flat adjacent or almost adjacent to the shore (Latypov,
1987; Dai, 1993). In time and in the course of erosive
and sedimentation processes, there is a transfer of
deposits from the deep zones to shallower one sand
vice versa.
The areas of 'living' and 'dead' reef extend,
reef deposits grow thicker and morphological zonation
develops (Figure 4 C, D).
4 Conclusions
4.1 Features of reefs
Unstructured reefs of the Baitylong archipelago and
Socotra Island represent a stable ecosystem adapted to
strongly turbid and eutrophic waters. The reefs have
stable species composition and community structure in
the same bionomical zones on different reefs. The
reefs are characterized by high species diversity (more
than a third of all Pacific scleractinian species,
(Latypov, 1987, 2003, 2011). Their limestone
framework is at the stage of “framework building”
(Wainwright, 1965) when cementation of sediments
and the filling of reefogenous deposits occur. It is
rather difficult to distinguish such reefs from real
structural reefs or the different developmental stages
of reef like “coral layers” and “specialized
settlements” and may need a new term. Such
encrusting reefs, along with the usual structural reefs,
are widespread along the shores of Vietnam (Pichon,
1977; Latypov, 1995, 2009, 2013; Latypov and
Malyutin, 1990).
4.2 The role of reefs in the reef ecosystem of
Indo-Pacific
.
Their development is associated with a monsoon
climate, constant turbidity, periodic dilution by fresh
water and, hence, the periodic destruction of a large
number of corals. These encrusting reefs form on
rocky and rubble boulder substrata or in turbid
conditions and are known from other regions [Zhuang
et al., 1983, Latypov, 1986; Trible and Randall, 1986)].
Unfavorable conditions are, overall, less continuous
than favorable ones and reefs can, therefore, recover
and survive (Latypov, 2003, 2006). The composition
and distribution of coral communities on encrusting
reefs, forming heterotrophic internal and autotrophic
external components of an integral ecosystem
(Sorokin, 1990) do not differ from such on reefs in
terms of a clear pattern of zonation in general
throughout the Indo-Pacific (Sorokin, 1990; Latypov,
2003, 2009, 2011).
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Irina Barsegova for her help in the
preparation of the English text of this paper.
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