Coral Reefs of Maldives

Maldives is a part of a huge undersea mountain range bordered by the spectacular coral reefs. The beautiful coral reefs around the silvery sand of Maldives are home to some of the fascinating lagoons and exotic marine life. The scientists have tried to come up with several theories to explain the origin of these coral reefs. The coral reefs of Maldives are formed due to the coral forming process called Accretion.

Maldives have around 26 coral islands or the natural atolls stretching 200 km from the north to south in the Indian Ocean. It is the part of the underwater mountain range that includes the Chagos Islands and the Lakshadweep Islands. The Coral Islands of Maldives offer spectacular opportunities to the underwater adventurers. There are almost 2000 coral reefs, coral outcrops and sandbars to explore for the scuba divers, underwater walkers and marine life enthusiasts.

Maldives is more dependent on the coral reefs than any other nation outside the Western Pacific for their food and land area. The export earning and foreign currency earned from tourism revenue are also dependent on the coral reefs. The coral reefs of Maldives are really eye-catching and worth visiting at least once in a life time.

The rubbles of the reef rock are broken off from the reef by heavy cyclonic storms because of which the waves create reef- top shoals. Other materials begin to steadily build up around it due to the normal action of waves and ocean currents. The beaches come up around these shallows as the wind heap up the lighter materials into dunes. The material is totally made of calcium carbonate and gets easily dissolved in rainwater. The dissolved lime gets re-deposited around the loose materials, reinforcing it together. Eventually, these newly-formed islands are inhabited and colonized by plants and animals.