Lawyer: Educational Requirements for Becoming a Lawyer. Learn about the education and preparation needed to become a lawyer. Get a quick view of the requirements as well as details about degree programs, job duties and licensure to find out if this is the career for you. View 10 Popular Schools Â».
With growth rates of 0.3 to 2 centimeters per year for massive corals, and up to 10 centimeters per year for branching corals, it can take up to 10,000 years for a coral reef to form from a group of larvae (Barnes, 1987).lick the image to see an animation. Coral reefs begin to form when free-swimming coral larvae attach to submerged rocks or other hard surfaces along the edges of islands or continents. As the corals grow and expand, reefs take on one of three major characteristic structures fringing, barrier or atoll.
Most of the coral reefs we can see today were formed after the last glacial period when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and flood the continental shelves. This means that most modern coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves on the shelves, the reefs grew upwards, pacing rising sea levels.