What are atolls in geography. The difference between an atoll and a coral reef. Tikehau or Krusenstern Atoll, French Polynesia

The atoll is coral island, which partially or completely surrounds the lagoon. Atolls come in a wide variety of shapes, configurations, and sizes. The corals of the atoll crown uplifts at the bottom of the ocean, whether it is the edge of a disappeared seamount or a volcano, which have eroded or partially collapsed under water over time. A lagoon forms over a volcanic crater or caldera while the upper edge remains above water or at shallow depths, allowing corals to grow and form reefs. Since corals grow exclusively in warm seas, atolls are found only in the tropical and subtropical zones of the Earth. For many people, the mesmerizing atolls with vibrant coral reefs and pristine turquoise lagoons seem literally inseparable from the incredible sea ​​adventures and heavenly beach holiday.

10. Funafuti, Tuvalu

Tuvalu is a Pacific state in the western part of Polynesia, which includes 4 islands and 5 atolls scattered over 350 kilometers. "Tuvalu" in translation from local language means "eight standing together" (that's how many inhabited islands in Tuvalu). If you look at the map, the state is located in the middle between Australia and Hawaii, and is probably best known for its ".tv" Internet domain. In terms of population, Tuvalu is the second smallest sovereign state in the world, only the Vatican has fewer inhabitants. Due to the remoteness of the country, there are very few tourists in Tuvalu. Tuvalu's capital Funafuti is a small coral atoll. Its width is about 20 meters in the narrowest part, and about 400 meters in the widest part of the island. The capital has approximately 4,500 inhabitants and is key place. Near the airport there are administrative buildings, a beautiful church and one hotel.

An island is a piece of land that is separated from the mainland by water on all sides. On our planet, you can count about half a million large and crumbs ...

9. Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

Bikini Atoll is known for three things: first, in 1946, an open bikini swimsuit for women was named after this atoll; secondly, the events described by Janusz Wisniewski in the novel of the same name took place here; and thirdly, during the Pacific nuclear testing It was here that the United States passed a total of 67 tests over 12 years from 1946 to 1958. 167 inhabitants of the island were relocated to neighboring safe islands. Today, Bikini Atoll is safe to visit and its background radiation is now less than most major cities, but the soil still contains dangerous levels of radioactive material. Fish are unaffected and are found in abundance here due to the lack of fishermen. Most of the visitors to the atoll are diving enthusiasts who dive to the ships that were sunk during the tests in 1946.

8. Tubbataha Reef, Philippines

Natural Park Tubbataha reef covers an area of ​​130 hectares, including the northern and southern atolls. This is a unique example of an atoll reef with a very high density of marine species. north atoll serves as a nesting site for birds and sea ​​turtles. The natural park is a perfect example of a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-meter perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands. Tubbataha is in a unique position - in the heart of the Sulu Sea. The reef is home to whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and Napoleon fish. In total, the reef ecosystem supports over 350 coral species and about 500 fish species. Tubbataha Reef is one of the best places for diving Philippine Islands which is listed world heritage UNESCO.

7. Lighthouse Reef, Belize

Lighthouse Reef is the most offshore of all Belize's atolls. However, it is quite small, with a length of about 80 kilometers. However, he offers best diving in everything Caribbean. Lighthouse Reef is incredibly popular among other atolls because of the large blue hole with a diameter of 300 meters, which is located near its center. The Great Blue Hole offers divers interesting observations of the limestone formations (during the Ice Age, a system of limestone caves formed here, flooded due to the rise in world sea level) that form its walls. Divers can encounter several interesting species of fish, including giant groupers, nurse sharks and several types of reef sharks, such as the Caribbean reef shark.

6. Tikehau or Krusenstern Atoll, French Polynesia

Tikehau is located on the northwestern tip of the Tuamotu archipelago. It was discovered by the Russian navigator Otto Kotzebue in 1816. This atoll is almost circular in shape with a maximum diameter of 28 kilometers and consists of two major islands and numerous small islands. Almost the entire territory of the atoll, except for the northeastern part, is inhabited, there are 400 inhabitants (according to the 1996 census), most of whom live in the village of Tuherahera. Tikehau is undoubtedly a postcard painting with long stripes of white or pink sand islands, inside which the turquoise lagoon shelters the most amazing variety of fish.

5. Caroline Island, Republic of Kiribati

First seen by Europeans in 1606, then attached to Britain, and finally becoming part of independent republic Kiribati in 1979, Caroline Island became famous for being the first on Earth (outside of Antarctica) to face an attack on January 1, 2000. The island is one of the most pristine tropical islands and one of the most pristine atolls in the world. It is home to one of the world's largest populations of palm thief (a type of crab) and an important nesting site for seabirds, most notably the black tern. However, due to the fact that the highest point of the island is located at a distance of 6 meters from the ocean level, there is real threat its flooding due to global warming and subsequent sea level rise. The Government of Kiribati estimates that this could happen as early as 2025.

There are a huge number of islands in the Mediterranean Sea, numbering in the thousands, and many of them have their own history and mysteries that have not yet been solved by...

4. Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands

Aitutaki Atoll consists of several volcanic and coral islands around a triangular lagoon. The whole lagoon and its islands are breathtakingly beautiful. A classic postcard featuring a palm tree bordered by a tropical island with shallow, warm turquoise waters, corals, tropical fish and blue skies. The most popular attraction is Tapuaetai (One Foot Island), a small island in the southeast of the lagoon. In 2006, Aitutaki was the location for the filming of the American television show Lost: The Cook Islands.

3. Aldabra, Seychelles

Located in the Indian Ocean, Aldabra Atoll is an outstanding example of a raised coral atoll. It is one of the largest atolls in the world (only Christmas Island in Kiribati is larger) and contains one of the most important natural environments habitats to study evolutionary and ecological processes. Aldabra Atoll consists of four large coral islands that surround a shallow lagoon; the group of islands is itself surrounded coral reef. Due to the difficulty of access and isolation, Aldabra Atoll has been protected from human influence and thus has preserved about 152,000 giant tortoises, the world's largest population of this reptile. Marine habitats range from coral reefs to seaweeds and mangroves. In 1982, Aldabra Atoll was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as unique monument nature. In 2015, Czech filmmakers shot and released a feature-length documentary"Aldabra. Journey to mysterious island', telling about unique flora and fauna of the island.

2. Rangiroa, French Polynesia

Rangiroa is one of the largest atolls in the world and the largest atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. The land area of ​​79 km² is a cluster of 415 small islands. Rangiroa is a prime snorkeling destination due to the clear blue waters of the lagoon and the exceptional diversity of marine life. Popular places diving include blue lagoon and the Tiputa pass. Here you can easily encounter gray reef sharks, rays, manta rays, dolphins, tuna and hammerhead fish.

1. Atolls of the Maldives

The Maldives is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean near India. People Maldives are called Maldivians and his language is known as "Dhivehi". The Maldives is made up of atolls, coral reefs and coral islands that rise slightly above sea level: the most high point archipelago - on southern atoll Addu (Siena) - 2.4 m. In total, the state was formed from 26 geographical atolls, which include about 1200 islands, which are divided into 20 administrative units. Not all of the islands are inhabited, in fact there are only about 200 islands. The rest are used for various activities, the most important of which is tourism. The Maldives reef is called one of the wonders of the world in terms of biodiversity marine life and corals. The very word "atoll" originates from the Maldivian word "atholhu".

"The coral islands, erected by small cranium-skinned animals, present us with the largest buildings on the globe, amazing the human mind," wrote the famous Russian navigator F. F. Bellingshausen. Indeed, the activity of corals, which erected dozens of large and hundreds of small islands of Oceania, built the Great Barrier Reef, the construction volume of which exceeds 100,000 times the Great Chinese wall(the size of the reef: 2000 kilometers long, 2000 meters high and up to 150 kilometers wide) causes both admiration and amazement.

"Tiki" - a statue from the Marquesas Islands

And after them comes the question: how did the corals manage to build islands and reefs, and in particular ring atolls in the ocean? Here is what Darwin wrote in his diary after he managed to examine coral islands and reefs (during his round-the-world trip on the Beagle): “Such formations, no doubt, occupy an important place among the amazing phenomena the globe. These are not curiosities that immediately catch the eye, but rather a miracle that strikes us after some reflection. We are surprised when travelers talk about huge piles of some ancient ruins. But how insignificant are the largest of them, when compared with the colossal amount of matter formed here from various smallest animals. On all the islands, on the smallest particles and large fragments of rock, there is a single seal, which says that they were once created by organic power.

Measuring the depth at a distance of only a little more than a mile from the coast, Captain Fitz Roy lowered a lot, seven thousand two hundred feet long, but did not reach the bottom. Therefore, we must consider this island as the top of a high mountain; to what depth the work of coral organisms extends is completely unknown. If it is correct to assume that the rock-forming polyps continue to build them up while the volcanic base of the island gradually subsides intermittently, then it is likely that the coral limestones must be of enormous thickness. We know some islands in the Pacific, such as Tahiti and Eimeo... which are surrounded by coral reefs separated from the shore by channels and pools of calm water. Various factors control the growth of the most productive coral species in these situations. Therefore, if we suppose that such an island, after long successive interruptions, has sunk a few feet... the work of the corals will continue upward from the base of the surrounding reef. Over time, the central landmass would sink below sea level and disappear, and the corals would complete the circular wall. Wouldn't it be a lagoon island then? From this point of view, we must consider the lagoon island as a monument, built by myriads of tiny architects to mark the place where the earth was buried in the depths of the ocean.

This diary entry, dated April 12, 1836, contains the key to Darwin's theory of the origin of coral reefs, which he later developed in the book "The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs" and the world-famous "Naturalist's Voyage Around the World on the Beagle". First, corals that live only in shallow water (at depths of no more than 50-60 meters) begin their activity around the coastal shallows of an island or mainland (this is how the Great Barrier Reef was formed near the coast of Australia). But here the bottom - and with it the island surrounded by reefs - slowly begins to sink. Corals need sun great depth they cannot live - and small builders begin to erect their buildings in order to remain in shallow water as before.

The island sinks more and more - and the space between it and the coral reef fringing it becomes wider and wider, which turns into a barrier reef. Little builders continue their titanic work, they build a solid wall on the foundation formed by their predecessors - corals. The sinking of the bottom continues, and the sinking of the island and coral structures continues. “As the barrier reef slowly sinks, corals will continue to grow rapidly upwards, but as the island sinks, the water will grab the shore span by span, and here at first individual mountains (peaks) form separate islands within one big reef, and in the end the last most high peak. The moment this happens, a real atoll is formed," Darwin wrote.

Darwin's theory of atoll formation, like his ingenious theory of evolution, has been controversial. Some scientists, including the greatest geologist Charles Lyell, admitted that Darwin was right. Others have come out with sharp criticism of his theory. So, the famous Alexander Agassiz announced that "Darwin made observations on the move during his voyage and did not want to stop anywhere", all the facts on which he builds the theory of the formation of atolls are taken "second hand", and therefore the theory is also vicious, their explaining. According to Agassiz, barrier reefs have grown on the coastal terraces that the activity has created. sea ​​waves. This explains the even flat bottom of the lagoons of coral atolls.

A detailed and reasoned criticism of Darwin's theory was made by John Murray. First, Murray noted, in a number of places there are coral reefs that rise above sea level by quite great height(on the Palau Islands in Micronesia - up to 150 meters, in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, they find the remains of corals at an altitude of over a kilometer). The corals themselves, the inhabitants of shallow waters, could not "grow" their buildings to such a height - obviously, here we are dealing with land uplift. But Darwin's theory suggests the opposite process: the slow and steady sinking of the islands, the tombstones of which are the coral atolls. Murray's second important argument, which cast doubt on Darwin's theory, was the existence of places where there were fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls at the same time: Darwin, on the other hand, assumed a gradual evolution going on for many decades, during the sinking of the island to the bottom.

Murray put forward his hypothesis: the land does not sink into the ocean, as the creator of the theory of evolution suggested, but, on the contrary, rises. When the top of the uplifted seamount reaches shallow depths where corals can settle, these little builders take up residence there and begin to create a reef that gradually expands outwards. But the growth rate of corals on the outer and inner parts of the reef is not the same. Corals in the inner part of the reef die off, the limestone that is part of this reef is dissolved and washed out. As a result, a "hole" is formed inside the reef, the depression is a lagoon. And on the edges of the reef, coral activity is in full swing, they continue to build up the reef - and thereby more and more strengthen the isolation of the lagoon. Ultimately, a barrier reef with a lagoon, or coral atoll, is formed.

Darwin, objecting to Murray, pointed out that the geological data on the structure of the bottom of the lagoons indicate that they do not "deepen" with time, but, on the contrary, are filled with sediments. Moreover, the waters of the lagoons, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, can in no way be a limestone solvent. (Murray believed that first a limestone bank is formed, and then, when the limestone dissolves, a lagoon.)

In 1915, R. Daly, a professor at Harvard University, put forward an original hypothesis called the "glacial control hypothesis". For, according to her, all existing atolls in the ocean are very young structures erected by corals in the Quaternary period. During the glaciation, the level of the World Ocean dropped by about 60-80 meters. The depth of the lagoons of coral atolls is approximately the same. The lowering of the ocean level led to the death of numerous coral colonies; the turbidity and cooling of the water during the Ice Age also led to the death of corals. Meanwhile, the ocean continued its activity - waves, ebbs and flows formed ledges and platforms along the coasts of the continents and islands (only at a lower, "glacial" sea level). But now the period of the last glaciation is over, the ice began to melt, and the level of the World Ocean is steadily rising, flooding the recently formed ledges and platforms. Favorable conditions were again created for the corals, and they were not slow to take advantage of this. The platforms that the ocean flooded served as the basis for their structures. Where these platforms were narrow, fringing reefs appeared; where they were wide, barrier reefs appeared. Atolls, on the other hand, were formed on the tops of mountains cut off during the ice age by abrasion - the "smoothing" activity of the waves.

Daly seemed to explain not only the origin of various types of coral structures and the flat shape of the bottom of the lagoons of the atolls, but also the fact that all lagoons, both in the center of the atoll and behind the reefs, have approximately the same depth - and it is equal to the magnitude of the rise in level ocean in the postglacial period (60-80 meters). However, careful measurements of the lagoons have shown that this is not so: in fact, their depth varies over a very wide range and varies from 60 to 180 meters.

Thus, the question of whose hypothesis is right remained open - right up to the very recent years when the deep drilling of the atolls began and people were finally able to find out their true history.

An atoll is a coral island that looks like a full or partial ring. In other words, the atolls are made up of turquoise lagoons, colorful reefs that blend seamlessly with marine life and are reminiscent of the wild and colorful life of the hero of Daniel Defoe's novel, Robinson Crusoe.
I suggest you admire the most beautiful atolls of the world from different corners our planet. See picturesque photos, find out Interesting Facts and share your impressions in the comments to this article.
1. Funafuti.
Tuvalu is Island state, which is located in the Pacific Ocean, on the way between Hawaii and Australia. It is the second least populated sovereign state in the world (the Vatican City legitimately took the primacy, with a smaller number of inhabitants). Due to the remoteness of the country, very few tourists visit it.


2. Bikini Atoll.
This atoll is famous for two very interesting historical facts: Firstly, the famous bikini model bathing suit was named after the Bikini Atoll; secondly, this place was the field for 20 nuclear weapons tests: between 1946 and 1958. The indigenous people of these places were resettled even before the start of the tests. Today, the islands are completely safe to visit. Many tourists come here to dive underwater and visit sunken ships.


3. Tubbataha reef.
Tubbataha Reef is one of the best diving spots in the world. Located in the Philippines, the reef consists of two atolls: North and South, which are separated by an 8-kilometer wide channel. Coral reefs are not only perfect place for diving, it is also an excellent habitat for many colonies of exotic fish.


4. Big blue hole.
Lighthouse Reef is probably the most popular of the atolls in the world, and this is due to the large blue hole, which is located in the very center of the atoll. This is a real unexplored paradise for divers who flock here from all over the world. The deeper one goes into blue hole, the clearer the water and the more breathtaking scenery.


5. Tikehau.
Tikehau is part of the Tuamotu chain of atolls, covering an area in the Pacific Ocean that is the same size as Western Europe. This place attracts tourists with its white - pink sand islands, inside which turquoise lagoons serve as shelters for all kinds of exotic fish. The research team of Jacques Cousteau, who visited these places, came to the conclusion that this place has the largest concentration of fish in French Polynesia.


6. Caroline Island
Europeans first saw the island in 1606. Carelyn is now part of the Republic of Kiribati. Despite more than 300 years of human activity on this island, it is one of the world's most pristine tropical islands and the world's most pristine atoll. Caroline Island and its neighbor Flint Island are home to the world's largest crab populations. The islands are located at an altitude of 6 meters above sea level, which means that they are in danger of disappearing due to the constantly rising sea level. According to scientists' calculations, the islands could be completely submerged by 2025.


7. Aitutaki Atoll.
Aitutaki consists of several coral and volcanic islands that have a triangular lagoon. Classical palm island turquoise shallow water, corals, exotic fish - all this you will find when you get to Aitutaki. The most popular is the island of Tapuaetai - a small island in the southeast of the lagoon.


8. Aldabra.
Aldabra is one of Outer Islands Seychelles, over 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) from Mahe, the largest island in the Seychelles. It is the second largest atoll in the world after Kiritimati. Due to the difficulty of accessing Aldabra Atoll, it is virtually untouched by man. About 152,000 giant tortoises live on its territory.


9. Rangiroa.
Rangiroa is one of the largest atolls in the world and the largest atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. This place is ideal for diving, because of the deep lagoon, full of abundance marine life. Here you can also see sharks, sea turtles and dolphins.


10. Atolls of the Maldives.
A tiny country in the Maldives, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is made up of about 1,200 tiny coral islands grouped into 26 atolls. The main occupation for tourists here is the study of alluring depths, which is accessible due to excellent visibility. Depth exploration includes the exploration of wrecks, which can be found with the help of guides.

The coral reef is a huge, diverse underwater ecosystem. Many reefs arose on limestone deposits. They can also form on artificial structures such as shipwrecks. Over hundreds (if not thousands) of years, they are overgrown with corals. Although they can easily be mistaken for rocks, corals are primitive living organisms that have hardly changed over the past 400 million years. Corals form the basis of habitat for other marine life, from fish and plankton to algae and other underwater plants.

Atolls are a very specific type of coral reef. These are round reefs that surround the lagoon in whole or in part - depending on how long the reef has been forming and how well it is developed. In the center of the atoll there may be an island or a group of small islands.

An atoll forms around underwater volcano. Erupting, it releases lava flows to the seabed. Accumulating, it rises above the water and forms the central island. Corals begin to accumulate around the eruption site. Rigid and rocky, they leave behind hard limestone exoskeletons, forming the atoll's backbone; many coral reefs form in a similar way, but the difference lies precisely in the presence of volcanic activity.

After thousands and millions of years, the volcano that created the central island of the atoll becomes dormant. The movement of water often destroys lava deposits, and the island sinks under the water. But even as the center of the atoll collapses, the corals continue to grow and attract more and more marine life into their ecosystem.

As a result, the central island turns into an underwater structure called a guyot. The reef around it, also called the "barrier reef", is gradually changing. Fresh ocean water the outside of the ring continues to bring in new life and nutrients, nourishing the outside of the reef while the inside begins to stagnate and die.

This slow decay inside the atoll changes the color of the water, giving it that characteristic turquoise hue that is so clearly visible from above.

Once this process begins, the interior of the reef is subject to the same destructive erosion that has already "eaten" it. volcanic center. Dead corals are destroyed, their limestone skeletons form hard fine sand that accumulates on the reef itself and various underwater objects. When enough corals have already been destroyed, the sand reaches the surface, rises above the water and forms small islands characteristic of the atoll.

The coral reef ecosystem is very diverse. According to some estimates, up to 25 percent of all known marine life forms can be found on them. The reefs that form the atoll, on the other hand, are dead; their internal (and sometimes external) part decomposes. Depending on their age and stage of development, such reefs can be so eroded by tides and water that they become uninhabitable.

The water around the coral reef is very rich in nutrients and micro-organisms, which allows it to keep the ecosystem thriving. The soil of the atolls is very bad, and since it can no longer fully support life, they are, in fact, nothing more than dead zones in the ocean. People live on large atolls, but they have to be extremely careful with resources. In addition, they are at great risk when the sea level rises.

With a group of islets (motu), separated by straits. These straits connect the ocean with the lagoon. If there are no straits, then the land forms a continuous ring, in which case the water in the lagoon may be less salty than in the ocean. An elevation at the bottom of the ocean is usually shaped like a cone formed by an extinct volcano.

A typical atoll is made up of three parts: outer slope of the reef, reef platform and lagoon. The height of the atoll usually does not exceed 3-4 meters above the mean ocean level. Atolls can have a variety of configurations and sizes. One of the largest atolls on Earth - Kwadzhelein (Menshikov) in the Marshall Islands archipelago - reaches 2336 km², of which 92% is in a lagoon stretching for 300 km. The total area of ​​92 islands of this atoll is 14.5 km². Another large atoll - Rangiroa (Rangiroi) in the Tuamotu archipelago - occupies 1639 km², and its 241 islets occupy 43 km². The coral reefs of such large atolls frame an uplift on the ocean floor, which is a volcanic plateau, and not a cone of a single volcano. With the exception of small atolls, reefs usually make up a few percent of the area of ​​the atolls themselves, and land is often only a fraction of a percent. In the case of the small Pangelai atoll, reefs and land cover 3 out of 4 km² of the atoll area.

Atolls are usually formed by fouling a volcanic island with a coral reef, forming a ring belt. Often this is accompanied by the subsidence of the volcanic base under water, if such subsidence does not occur, then a nuclear atoll is formed with volcanic island inside the lagoon. A slight decrease in the water level (or uplift of the tectonic base of the atoll) leads to the transformation of the coral reef into an atoll. Further land uplift may lead to the formation of an uplifted atoll. If the atoll submerges under water, then an underwater bank (that is, a shallow) is formed, which can be called a submerged atoll.

Illustrations

Literature

• Ignatiev G. M. Tropical Islands Pacific Ocean. Moscow, publishing house "Thought", 1978, 270 p.
• Scott G. A. J., Rotondo G. M. "A model for the development of types of atolls and volcanic islands on the Pacific lithospheric plate". USA, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1983.
• Rapaport Moshe. "Population pressure on cowl atolls: trends and approaching limits". USA, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1990.

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See what "Coral Atoll" is in other dictionaries:

Atoll (eng. Atoll) Atoll is a coral island, having the form of a continuous or discontinuous ring surrounding the lagoon. Atoll (Scotland) historical area in the center of Scotland, in the mountains north of Perthshire ... Wikipedia

Ring-shaped coral reef surrounding the water area. Coral reefs are common in tropical and subtropical latitudes, most widely in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The word atoll comes from the name used by the peoples ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

- (Atoll) lagoon reef, a special kind of island. A ring-shaped strip of land surrounding an inland shallow lake or lagoon. Usually A. rises above sea level by several meters. The depth in the lagoon is small; 60 150 m (30 80 sea fathoms), while ... ... Marine Dictionary

Coral island, reef Dictionary of Russian synonyms. atoll n., number of synonyms: 9 bikinis (5) ... Synonym dictionary

atoll- a, m. atoll m., eng. Coral island. Atolian oh, oh. Sometimes the tentacles of an octopus were pushed into the hole, which, apparently, methodically ransacked the atoll jar. A. Kim Fish Simplicitas. // NM 1997 4 102. Lex. Dal: atol; Toll 1863: atoll; SAN 1891 ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

ATOLL, a ring-shaped CORAL REEF surrounding a shallow LAGOON. The reef appears initially as a frame for an island slowly sinking into the water, usually of volcanic origin. As the island sinks, the coral continues to grow... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

ATOLL, atoll, husband. (Malay). Ring-shaped coral island. Dictionary Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

ATOLL, a, husband. Ring-shaped coral island. | adj. atoll, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Husband. coral island with an open ring; a ringed, lagoonal ridge, an island gradually carved out by the smallest skull-skins, with a lake or lagoon in the middle (it is permissible to remake a lagoon into a Russian lagoon). Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Far... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

- [Malay adol closed] coral island in the form of a narrow ring ridge of reef limestone (coral barrier) that closes the inner lagoon. The outer slope is steep (about 45 60°), sometimes even overhangs. On the inside of the ring, often ... ... Geological Encyclopedia

Books

• 50 Most Beautiful Islands, Mason, Anthony. Island of dreams - what do we mean by this concept? The simplest answer is a coral atoll in the tropics, white sand beaches shaded by a coconut tree whose leaves rustle softly under…