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Elizabeth Reef is a coral reef
Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
 in the Tasman Sea
Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately 2000 kilometres across. It extends 2800 km from north to south....
. The reef is separated by a deep ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
ic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef
Middleton Reef

Middleton Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. It is separated by a deep oceanic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise underwater plateau....
, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise
Lord Howe Rise

The Lord Howe Rise is an underwater plateau that extends from southwest of New Caledonia to the Challenger Plateau, west of New Zealand. To its west is the Tasman Basin and to the east is the New Caledonia Basin....
. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean east of the Australian mainland. Along with Ball's Pyramid, it is administered by the Lord Howe Island Board, one of 175 local authorities in the state of New South Wales, and is part of the Mid-North Coast Statistical Division....
 and 555 km from the New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
 coast of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. In 1997 the included Elizabeth Reef in Australia's Coral Sea Islands
Coral Sea Islands

The Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia....
 Territory.

Elizabeth Reef is a platform reef and amongst one of the southernmost platform reefs in the world.






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Elizabeth Reef is a coral reef
Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
 in the Tasman Sea
Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately 2000 kilometres across. It extends 2800 km from north to south....
. The reef is separated by a deep ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
ic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef
Middleton Reef

Middleton Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. It is separated by a deep oceanic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise underwater plateau....
, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise
Lord Howe Rise

The Lord Howe Rise is an underwater plateau that extends from southwest of New Caledonia to the Challenger Plateau, west of New Zealand. To its west is the Tasman Basin and to the east is the New Caledonia Basin....
. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island
Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean east of the Australian mainland. Along with Ball's Pyramid, it is administered by the Lord Howe Island Board, one of 175 local authorities in the state of New South Wales, and is part of the Mid-North Coast Statistical Division....
 and 555 km from the New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
 coast of Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. In 1997 the included Elizabeth Reef in Australia's Coral Sea Islands
Coral Sea Islands

The Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia....
 Territory.

Elizabeth Reef is a platform reef and amongst one of the southernmost platform reefs in the world. It measures 8.2 km by 5.5 km. However, despite the relatively high latitude, a wide variety of flora
Flora

In botany, flora has two meanings. The first meaning, flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life....
 and fauna
Fauna

File:Fauna.pngFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoology and paleontology use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g....
 exists on the island and surrounding waters due to their location where tropical and temperate ocean current
Ocean current

An ocean current is continuous, directed movement of ocean water. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the Earth's rotation, the wind, the temperature, salinity differences and the tide....
s converge.

The reef is usually submerged. However, during low tide most of the reef flat is exposed. At high tide only one cay
Cay

A cay is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people....
 is visible one metre above sea level. The cay is known as Elizabeth Island and has a diameter of about 400 m. Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs form the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve managed by the Government of Australia
Government of Australia

The Australia is a federation constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement between six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states....
 under the Natural Heritage Trust
Natural Heritage Trust

The Natural Heritage Trust was set up by the Australian Government in 1997 to help restore and conserve Australia's environment and natural resources....
.

]

Flora and Fauna

Surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science
Australian Institute of Marine Science

The Australian Institute of Marine Science is a state-of-the-art tropical Marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson, 50km south of Townsville, Queensland in North Queensland, Australia....
 have highlighted healthy number of Black Cod Epinephelus daemelii which is now a threatened species in NSW waters. The survey in 2003 highlighted some 111 species of coral and at the same time identified 181 species of fish. The total number of recorded fish species on the reef is 311 across several surveys. High numbers of Galapagos shark
Galapagos shark

The Galapagos shark, Carcharhinus galapagensis, is a species of requiem shark that was first named in 1905 after specimens were found in the seas around the Galapagos Islands....
s Carcharhinus galapagensis were observed at Elizabeth Reef and based on size may indicate that the reef is a nursery for this species. Sea cucumber
Sea cucumber

Holothuroidea is a class of marine animals with an elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor worldwide. Many holothurian species and genera, informally known as sea cucumbers, are targeted for human consumption....
 (Black teatfish), Holothuria whitmaei were also found to be in high numbers at Elizabeth reef. While the 2003 survey found only minor number of the Crown-of-thorns starfish
Crown-of-thorns starfish

The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is a large nocturnal sea star that preys upon coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns receives it name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its body....
, a survey in 2005 has indicated that the starfish is now active on the reef.

Shipwrecks


Both Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs have been the site of numerous shipwrecks. According to the the ships stranded at Elizabeth Reef include: , , , , , , , ,

Some confusion exists for the location of as the has a listing for both Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs.

Elizabeth Reef has not retired from claiming unwary sailors with it's most recent victim reported in August 2007. The British sailor, Steve Landles, was winched to an Australian Navy Sea Hawk Helicopter from is stranded yacht Lamachan on 2 August 2007; however, the yacht could not be recovered.

See also

  • Lord Howe seamount chain
    Lord Howe seamount chain

    The Lord Howe seamount chain is a Miocene seamount chain on northern Lord Howe Rise, Zealandia . The chain is defined by coral-capped guyots, extends to the north for 1000 km , most likely the result of the Indo-Australian Plate moving northward over a stationary hotspot ....


External links