![]() "The geological effects of hurricanes on coral reefs and the interpretation of storm deposits". "Carbonate production of an emergent reef platform, Warraber Island, Torres Strait, Australia" (PDF). "A budget of carbonate framework and sediment production, Kailua Bay, Oahu, Hawaii" (PDF). "Importance of foraminifera for the formation and maintenance of a coral sand cay: Green Island, Australia". Introduction to Carbonate Sediments and Rocks. "Carbonate sands of Isla Perez, Alacran Reef Complex, Yucatan". The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef – Quaternary Development of Coral Reefs. Proceedings of the 6th International Coral Reef Symposium: Vol. "Coral cays: Products of wave action and geological processes in a biogenic environment". "Sediment movement around a coral cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia". The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas. This cay and the surrounding reef flat formed in the Holocene, over a prior Pleistocene platform. Approximately 750 m × 1,500 m (2,460 ft × 4,920 ft), this island is situated on the leeward surface of a large 11 km 2 (4.2 sq mi) emergent reef platform. Heron Island, Australia, a coral cay on the southern Great Barrier Reef.(Most of the Florida Keys are exposed ancient coral reefs, and the oolite beds that formed behind reefs.) A few of the Florida Keys, such as Sand Key, are "cays" as defined above.Despite, or perhaps because of, all the debate around the future of cays there is consensus that these island environments are very complex and fairly fragile.Įxamples Warraber Island, Torres Strait Understanding the potential for change in the sediment sources and supply of cay beaches with environmental change is an important key to predicting their stability. There is also debate around whether these islands are relict features that effectively stopped expanding two thousand years ago during the late Holocene or, as recent research suggests, they are still growing, with significant new accumulation of reef sediments. There is much debate and concern over the future stability of cays in the face of growing human populations and pressures on reef ecosystems, and predicted climate changes and sea level rise. Also, tropical cyclones can either help build up or tear down these islands. Significant changes in cays and their surrounding ecosystems can result from natural phenomena such as severe El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles. the types and abundance of carbonate producing biota and other organisms such as binders, bioeroders, and bioturbators (creatures that bind, erode, and mix sediments) living in surrounding reef ecosystems.changes in ocean waves, currents, tides, sea levels, and weather conditions,.the extent of reef surface sand accumulations,.Over time, soil and vegetation may develop on a cay surface, assisted by the deposition of sea bird guano.Ī range of physical, biological and chemical influences determines the ongoing development or erosion of cay environments. ![]() ![]() Small amounts of silicate sediment are also contributed by sponges and other creatures. They are produced by myriad plants (e.g., coralline algae, species of the green algae Halimeda) and animals (e.g., coral, molluscs, foraminifera). If the accumulated sediments are predominantly sand, then the island is called a cay if they are predominantly gravel, the island is called a motu.Ĭay sediments are largely composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3), primarily of aragonite, calcite, and high-magnesium calcite. The island resulting from sediment accumulation is made up almost entirely of the skeletal remains of plants and animals – biogenic sediment – from the surrounding reef ecosystems. Such nodes occur in windward or leeward areas of reefs, where flat surfaces sometimes rise around an emergent outcrop of old reef or beach rock. Gradually, layers of deposited sediment build up on the reef surface – a depositional node. Formation and composition Cay sand under an optical microscopeĪ cay forms when ocean currents transport loose sediment across the surface of a reef to where the current slows or converges with another current, releasing its sediment load. The Taíno word for "island", cairi, became cayo in Spanish and "cay" / ˈ k iː/ in English (spelled "key" in American English). Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef. Heron Island, AustraliaĪ cay ( / ˈ k iː, ˈ k eɪ/ KEE, KAY), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low- elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. For other uses, see Cay (disambiguation).
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