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2013 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

9. The Reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Authors : Alan Logan, Kathleen Sullivan Sealey

Published in: Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

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Abstract

The Turks and Caicos Islands lie at the southern end of the Bahamas archipelago and comprise six major islands around the northern edge of Caicos Bank and two west of the smaller Turks Bank. The margins of these banks are defined by sharp drop-offs into deep water on all sides and are fringed by coral reefs, mainly on their windward (eastern) sides. There are six ecotypes comprising true (accreting) coral reefs: bank patch reefs, near-shore patch reefs, channel reefs, near-shore fringing reefs, platform margin bank-barrier reefs, and platform margin deep reefs. Hard-bottom non-reefal habitats that contain corals but are not true accreting coral reefs are also present. Near-shore fringing and bank-barrier reefs have their crests close to sea-level, with Acropora and Millepora as the main reef builders, and have lagoonal environments in their lee, while deeper reefs are dominated by the corals Diploria, Montastrea, Porites and Agaricia. The narrow platform margin is characterized by two terraces, the shallow terrace sloping gradually from either the shoreline or fringing reef to about 8–10 m depth, where there is an appreciable increase in slope to about 15 m depth, coinciding with the seaward edge of spur-and-groove structure, where developed. The deep terrace has a depth of 15–20 m and consists of a narrow sand plain with isolated patch reefs and/or low-relief spur-and-groove reefs, beyond which there is a steep drop-off into deep water.

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Title: The Reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Authors: Alan Logan
Kathleen Sullivan Sealey
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Book: Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5964-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-94-007-5965-7

Copyright Year: 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5965-7_9