levo

Coastal Landscapes

Coral reefs and mangrove coastlines

  • 2 things to know
  • Component 1 Section A

Overview

Coral polyp, symbiotic relationship that allows coral to grow and fringing reef.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is a coral polyp?

Key term

Explain the symbiotic relationship that allows coral to grow.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is a coral polyp?

    Model answer

    A coral polyp is a small marine animal that secretes a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate. Colonies of polyps build up over centuries to form a reef.

  2. 2

    Explain the symbiotic relationship that allows coral to grow.

    Model answer

    Algae called zooxanthellae live inside the polyp's tissue and photosynthesise. The algae supply the polyp with sugars and the polyp supplies them with shelter and nutrients.

  3. 3

    What water temperature do reef-building corals require?

    Model answer

    Reef-building corals need water between about 23 °C and 29 °C. Growth stops if temperatures fall much below 18 °C.

  4. 4

    Why must coral reefs grow in shallow water?

    Model answer

    The zooxanthellae need sunlight to photosynthesise. Most reef growth is therefore confined to the top 25 m of the water column.

  5. 5

    What salinity and water clarity do corals need?

    Model answer

    Corals need salinity of roughly 30 to 36 parts per thousand and clear, sediment-free water. Suspended sediment smothers the polyps and blocks the light.

  6. 6

    Why are corals absent from the mouths of large rivers?

    Model answer

    River water is fresh and heavily laden with sediment. Fresh water and sediment together kill the polyps, so a gap appears in the reef opposite a river mouth.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Coastal Landscapes
Glaciated Landscapes
Changing Places
Water and Carbon Cycles

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

One therefore represents 250 metres.
centimetremetremillimetre

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ACustomary rights are often unwritten.
BA government can lease the same land to an investor.
COccupants then have no legal defence against eviction.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Due west is a bearing of 270°.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Coastal Landscapes, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.