Scott and Seringapatam Reefs is a group of

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

-like reefs in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

more than northwest of Cape Leveque,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, on the edge of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

. There are three or four separate reef structures, depending on whether Scott Reef Central is counted separately. The group is just one of a number of reef formations off the northwest coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and belongs to

. Further to the northeast are

Ashmore and Cartier Islands The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australian States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), ...

, and to the southwest are the

Rowley Shoals The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centred on , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll covers a ...

Location and description

Each of the reefs rises steeply from the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

below. Much of the reef area dries at low tide, but besides Sandy Islet of Scott Reef South, there are only a few rocks and sandbanks above the high water mark. *Scott Reef South (also Horseshoe Reef or South Reef) is a large crescent-shaped formation that has a rare and unusual double reef crest. Its lagoon, has depths of over throughout the greater portion. The reef with its lagoon covers an area of . *Scott Reef Central, because of its proximity occasionally subsumed within Scott Reef South, lies off West Hook (the western extremity of the crescent of Scott Reef South), with Sandy Islet at ( north-south, up to wide, with an area of ). This reef falls dry to the extent of from the islet. There is a conspicuous tower on the islet and also a boulder with a height 2.4 m near its northern end. A detached reef, which dries , lies northeast of Sandy Islet. The passage between Scott Reef South and Scott Reef Central is only deep, much less than the passages between the other reefs ( between Scott Reef South and Scott Reef North). *Scott Reef North consists of a large, approximately circular-shaped, reef lying southwest of Seringapatam Reef. The reef is composed of a narrow reef-crest that is backed by broad reef flats – much of which becomes exposed at low tide – and a deep central lagoon that is connected to the open sea by two delta-like channels. The reef with its lagoon covers an area of . *Seringapatam Reef is located at , north of Scott Reef North. It is an egg-shaped reef, with a total area of approximately , which is about evenly divided between lagoon and reef flat. Its narrow reef rim encloses a relatively deep lagoon. Much of the reef becomes exposed at low tide. There are large boulders around its edges, with a few sandbanks, which rise about above the water, on the west side. Seringapatam Reef covers an area of (including the central lagoon). Captain Edwin Courtenay of was on a whaling voyage when he discovered the reef on 23 August 1839. He named the reef for his ship.

Browse Basin Liquefied Natural Gas Development

Browse LNG The Browse LNG was a liquefied natural gas plant project proposed for construction at James Price Point, north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. It was considered by a joint venture, including Woodside Petroleum, Shell, ...

was a majorBrowse LNG Development Fact Sheet
liquefied natural gas (LNG) project being developed by Woodside Petroleum, and included the Torosa gas field which lies underneath Scott Reef South and Scott Reef North.

Coral Bleaching

Scott Reef was extensively affected by

coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of Symbiosis, symbiotic algae and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, ...

in 2016 (during a global coral bleaching event), which killed approximately 80% of corals. This followed a previous extensive coral bleaching in 1998 during which "up to 80 per cent of Scott Reef corals died" but from which the reef did recover in the subsequent 10–15 years. Heat stress (indicated by NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks metric) was the highest ever recorded in 2016. Nevertheless, given continuing and measurable climate change and the "direct correlation between increased temperatures and coral bleaching", the consequent increasing frequency of coral bleaching warrants concern that Scott Reef may not recover and survive from the 2016 bleaching event.

References

External links

*
Sailing Directions, Vol. 175

Arrecifes e islas australianas en el Mar de Timor
(Spanish)

Location and description

Browse Basin Liquefied Natural Gas Development

Coral Bleaching

References

External links

Further reading