Birth of an Atoll
Online Coral Reef Ecology Curriculum Video: Birth of an Atoll
Do you know… how is an atoll born?
In this Birth of Atoll video, you’ll learn what an atoll is and how it is formed.
Atolls begin as an underwater volcanoes called seamounts. Over time and many eruptions the seamount grows until it rises above the water and becomes an island. Corals grow around the island and, over geologic time, the volcano goes dormant and sinks, but the coral reefs remain and continue to grow faster than the island sinks, eventually creating an island ring made of coral around a central lagoon where the volcano used to be.
To learn more, check out our online coral reef ecology curriculum: http://www.lof.org/education/portal/
