Coral Reef, coastal and oceanic ecosystem renowned for its beautiful life forms and for providing

one of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth.

Mercan kaya;kiyi ve okyanus ekosisteminde: iyi yasam sekilleri ve dunyada biyolojik cok farkli yasam alanlarinda birini saglamasiyla bilinir. Kaya yuzeye yakin gorunen bir sirt veya denizde kaya cikintisidir. Mercan kayaligi buyuk olcude veya cogunlukla mercanlar tarafindan olusan bir kayadan olusmus, cok kucuk canlilar olup hepsi bir arda yasarlar. Yuzler veya binlerce yildan fazla, yeni gelisen mercanlarla olu olanlarin iskeletleride; mercanlarin kirectasi iskeletlerini arttirdi. Bu fiziki yapida mercanlar ve diger canlilar su yuzeyinde yasayan mercan kayalardir. Mercan, kayalardan olusan; nadiren sicakligi 18 derecenin gorulen, sadece ilik tropikal sularda yasar. Mercan kayalari sadece acikdenizde buyur ve gunes isigindan faydanabilir.

A reef is a ridge or outcrop of rock in the sea that comes close to the surface. A coral reef is a reef that has been built largely or entirely by corals, tiny animals that live together in colonies.

Over hundreds or thousands of years the limestone skeletons of coral build up, with new corals growing on the skeletons of the dead ones. This physical structure, with its living surface of corals and other organisms, is a coral reef. The corals that build reefs are found only in warm tropical waters where sea temperatures rarely fall below 18C (64F).

They thrive only in clear saltwater where bright Iste bu nedenle mercanlar zooksantel diye sunlight can penetrate. adlandirilan mercan hucrelerine yerlesen ve This is because corals cannot exist without the fotosentez icin isiga ihtiyac duyan simbiyotik symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live in algler, olmadan yasayamazlar. coral tissues and require sunlight for Bircok kaya; kitasal etajerde, ada cevresinde ya photosynthesis. da kiyidan oldukca uzakta bulunur. Many reefs are found around islands, or quite far from land at the edge of continental shelves. Mercan kayalardan bazilarinin en genis yasam alanlari Pasifik okyanusu, Guneydogu Asya Some of the most extensive areas of coral reefs adalari cevresi, Avusturalya kiyisi aciklaridir. are found in the Pacific Ocean, around the islands of Southeast Asia and off the coast of Mercan kaya; Hint okyanusu, Kizil Deniz ve Australia. Umman denizi gibi genis alanlarda bulunur. Large areas of coral reef are also found in the

Indian Ocean and around the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Many coral reefs also exist in the Caribbean Sea. Because their skeletons are made of limestone, corals leave clear and abundant fossils. Some of the earliest forms of lifemound- or pillar-shaped fossilized rocks known as stromatolitesresemble corals.

Ayrica bircok mercan kayada Karayip denizinde yasar. Iskeletleri kalkerden(kirectasindan) oldugundan cok ve belirgin fosillere ayrilir. Mercanlar sinobakteriye benzeyen yapi olarak bilinen dag yasaminda ve yahut sutun seklinde fosillesen kayaclardan bazilaridir. BURCU SAHIN 05160713