GCRA
OVERVIEW
FAQ
NEWS
ARTICLES
PHOTOS
REEF ISSUES
RESTORATION
PAPERS
LINKS
|
|
|
|
Artificial Reefs The term "artificial reef" often covers a wide variety of material tossed into the sea: wrecked cars, airplanes, ships, concrete blocks and tires. On land, we would probably call this material a pile of junk. Underwater, while this discarded material may provide a degree of shelter for fish, it also corrodes, cracks, rusts, decomposes and leaches toxic chemicals into the water. Corals tend to grow very slowly on them, if at all. Normally you will observe just a few types of weedy organisms. Ultimately these artificial reefs get broken apart by wave forces and become dangerous projectiles in storms. A new, chemical process called mineral accretion, patented by GCRA, creates a growing reef made of limestone minerals—the natural material on which natural corals settle and grow. Plus, in dramatic contrast to other manmade reefs, mineral accretion reefs actually become stronger with age, accelerate coral growth and help rebuild a normal reef ecosystem. This website contains information on reefs formed through mineral accretion. Here are a couple of suggested areas to review: |
|