Middleton Reef is a
coral reefCoral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters containing few nutrients. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate...
in the
Tasman SeaThe 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. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first...
. It is separated by a deep
oceanAn ocean is a large body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
ic pass some 45 km wide from nearby
Elizabeth ReefElizabeth Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. The reef is separated by a deep oceanic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the New...
, forming part of the
Lord Howe RiseThe 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. Lord Howe Rise has a total area of about 1,500,000 square km, and generally lies about...
underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from
Lord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is a small island in the Tasman Sea east of the Australian mainland. The Lord Howe Island Group, including nearby Ball's Pyramid, is administered by the Lord Howe Island Board,, and is part of the Mid-North Coast Statistical Division of New South Wales, Australia...
and 555 km from the coast of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
. In 1997 the
Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 1996 included Middelton Reef in Australia's
Coral Sea IslandsThe Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island...
Territory.This island is included also in
Elizabeth and Middleton ReefsElizabeth and Middleton Reefs form the managed by the Government of Australia under the Natural Heritage Trust.Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef are a pair of isolated oceanic platform reefs separated from one another by 45 km of deep oceanic waters...
Middleton Reef is a platform reef and is among the southernmost platform reefs in the world.
Middleton Reef is a
coral reefCoral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters containing few nutrients. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate...
in the
Tasman SeaThe 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. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first...
. It is separated by a deep
oceanAn ocean is a large body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
ic pass some 45 km wide from nearby
Elizabeth ReefElizabeth Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. The reef is separated by a deep oceanic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the New...
, forming part of the
Lord Howe RiseThe 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. Lord Howe Rise has a total area of about 1,500,000 square km, and generally lies about...
underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from
Lord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is a small island in the Tasman Sea east of the Australian mainland. The Lord Howe Island Group, including nearby Ball's Pyramid, is administered by the Lord Howe Island Board,, and is part of the Mid-North Coast Statistical Division of New South Wales, Australia...
and 555 km from the coast of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
. In 1997 the
Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 1996 included Middelton Reef in Australia's
Coral Sea IslandsThe Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island...
Territory.This island is included also in
Elizabeth and Middleton ReefsElizabeth and Middleton Reefs form the managed by the Government of Australia under the Natural Heritage Trust.Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef are a pair of isolated oceanic platform reefs separated from one another by 45 km of deep oceanic waters...
Middleton Reef is a platform reef and is among the southernmost platform reefs in the world. However, despite its relatively high latitude, a wide variety of
floraIn 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
faunaFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g...
exists both on the island and in the surrounding waters. This is due to its location where tropical and temperate
ocean currentAn ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon the water, such as the wind, Coriolis force, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
s converge.
Middleton reef is about 8.9 km long by 6.3 km wide and is usually submerged. However, at low tide most of the reef flat is exposed. At high tide only one
cayA cay is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs...
on the reef is visible, at one metre above sea level. The cay is called The Sound and is 100 m by 70 m.
The reefs form the
Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve managed by the
Government of AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
under the
Natural Heritage TrustThe 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 ScienceThe Australian Institute of Marine Science is a state-of-the-art tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson, 50km by road east of Townsville in North Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1972, by the Commonwealth of 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 sharkThe Galapagos shark, Carcharhinus galapagensis, is a species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. This species favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species...
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 (Black teatfish),
Holothuria whitmaei were also found to be in high numbers at Elizabeth reef. While the 2003 survey found only small numbers of the
Crown-of-thorns starfishThe Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is a large nocturnal sea star that preys upon coral polyps. The Crown-of-Thorns receives its 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
Along with Elizabeth Reef, Middleton Reef has been the site been the site of numerous shipwrecks. According to the
National Shipwrecks Database the ships stranded include:
Middleton Reef: Agnes Napier,
Annasona,
Blue Jacket,
Britannia,
Defender,
Maelgwyn,
Mallsgate,
Mary Lawson,
Queen of the East,
Stuart Russel
Some confusion exists for the location of
Britannia as the
National Shipwrecks Database has a listing for both Elizabeth and Middleton Reef.
External links