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Huge coral reef discovered at Amazon river mouth
Scientists astonished to find 600-mile long reef under the muddy water in a site already marked for oil exploration
John Vidal
April 22, 2016
A huge 3,600 square mile (9,300 km2) coral reef system has been found below the muddy waters off the mouth of the river Amazon, astonishing scientists, governments and oil companies who have started to explore on top of it. The existence of the 600-mile long reef, which ranges from about 30-120m deep and stretches from French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhão state, was not suspected because many of the world’s great rivers produce major gaps in reef systems where no corals grow.
In addition, there was little previous evidence because corals mostly thrive in clear, sunlit, salt water, and the equatorial waters near the mouth of the Amazon are some of the muddiest in the world, with vast quantities of sediment washed thousands of miles down the river and swept hundreds of miles out to sea.
But the reef is said to be in grave danger. The Brazilian government has sold 80 blocks for oil exploration and drilling at the mouth of the Amazon and 20 of these are already producing oil – some, it is thought, right on top of the reef.
(www.theguardian.com. Adaptado.)
Segundo o texto, o recife de corais que foi descoberto
