Abstract
The South China Sea (SCS) lies in the tropic monsoon zone between the equator and Tropic of Cancer, and its climate is suitable for the development of reef-building corals. Coral reefs, mainly atolls but no barrier reefs, grow from coastal zones to deep-sea basins. The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the West Pacific. Reef-building lives there belong to Indian-Pacific Ocean fauna, but no algae ridges are developed. Almost all carbonate sediments in reef areas are biogenic. Contents of surface carbonate sediments change with the water depth. Shallower than 60 m there is an aragonite zone, mainly with reef-building corals; 60-400 m the Mg-calcite zone; deeper than 400 m the calcite zone.
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© 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Li-fen, G., Bao-fu, N., Yuan-zhi, Z., Jin-liang, Z. (1994). Modern Coral Reefs in South China Sea. In: Di, Z., Yuan-Bo, L., Cheng-Kui, Z. (eds) Oceanology of China Seas. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0862-1_46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0862-1_46
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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