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Coastal Landscapes

Coral reefs and mangrove coastlines

  • 2 things to know
  • AS Unit 1

Overview

Coral polyp, water temperature range that reef-building coral requires and coral bleaching.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is a coral polyp?

Key term

Name the algae that live within coral tissue and state what they provide.

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 calcium carbonate skeleton, and colonies of them build a reef.

  2. 2

    Name the algae that live within coral tissue and state what they provide.

    Model answer

    Zooxanthellae, which photosynthesise and supply the coral with much of its food as well as its colour.

  3. 3

    State the water temperature range that reef-building coral requires.

    Model answer

    Roughly 23°C to 29°C, and it will not thrive below about 18°C.

  4. 4

    Why must reef-building coral grow in shallow water?

    Model answer

    The zooxanthellae need sunlight to photosynthesise, so the coral is restricted to water shallow enough for light to reach it, generally under about 30 m.

  5. 5

    Give two further conditions, besides warmth and light, that coral reefs need.

    Model answer

    Clear water free of suspended sediment, and normal marine salinity with a supply of oxygen from moving water.

  6. 6

    Distinguish a fringing reef from a barrier reef.

    Model answer

    A fringing reef grows directly against the shore, while a barrier reef is separated from the land by a lagoon.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

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Six ways to work the same material.

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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
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Changing Places

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.

Governments must win votes.
ruralurbanelite

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

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

AFew coastal people recognised the signs.
BThe coasts were densely populated.
CMany communities were struck with no notice at all.

Build It gets the exam shape right

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

The Mariana Trench reaches almost 11,000 m below sea level.
TrueFalse

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

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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.

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