The Lakshadweep Islands and coral reefs

 

The Lakshadweep Islands, also referred to as the Oceanic Island Reef, are situated between 71° and 74°E longitude and 8° to 12' 30°N latitude. This archipelago comprises 36 islands and atolls, with 10 of them—Androth, Agatti, Bitra, Chetlath, Kadamat, Kiltan, Kalpeni, Kavaratti, and Minicoy—being inhabited. The remaining islands consist of five banks named Bassas de Pedro, Sessostris, Coradivh, Aminipitti, and Elikalpeni, along with submerged reefs like Parali, Baliapani, Cheriapani, and Perumalpar (source: www.lakshadweep.nic.in).

Lakshadweep, located within Indian territorial waters, boasts the country's sole atoll reef. An atoll, a ring-shaped coral island, forms as coral accumulates either on a submerged bank or the rim of a volcanic crater. Typically, it encircles a lagoon, which is a body of water bordered by the atoll. These regions often exhibit high current flows in their channels. The islands are encircled by a ring-shaped lagoon with shallow, crystal-clear waters running parallel to the islands, fostering diverse ecosystems of organisms and coral reefs. During high tide, the lagoon's depth averages from 2 to 4 meters, exposing the corals during low tide. The Lakshadweep archipelago comprises 36 small coral atolls and islands, encompassing a total lagoon area of approximately 4,200 square kilometres. Normally its all island commonly seen corals are Acropora, Porites, Pocillopora, Montipora, etc are types of corals seen in the Lakshadweep water.




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