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QUICK FACTS
The place is it? Rowley Shoals, Australia [-17.32117355, 119.26473330]
What’s within the photograph? From left to proper; Imperieuse Reef, Clerke Reef and Mermaid Reef
Who took the photograph? An unnamed astronaut on board the Worldwide Area Station
When was it taken? Oct. 18, 2011
This putting astronaut photograph reveals a novel chain of three atolls lined up side-by-side off the coast of Australia. The oval islands have been as soon as a part of a colossal coral system that rivaled the Nice Barrier Reef.
The trio of islands makes up Rowley Shoals, an uninhabited Australian territory positioned within the Timor Sea round 180 miles (290 kilometers) off the coast of Western Australia. From southwest to northeast (left to proper), the islands are named Imperieuse Reef, Clerke Reef and Mermaid Reef.
The egg-shaped buildings are all atolls — rings of land constructed from fringing coral reefs that after circled an island that has subsequently sunk beneath the waves. These atolls are evenly spaced out right into a near-perfect straight line spanning roughly 60 miles (100 km) from finish to finish, in keeping with NASA’s Earth Observatory.
Every island has a floor space of round 30 sq. miles (80 sq. km). Solely Imperieuse Reef and Clerke Reef have white sandy islets, or cays, that stay above water. Imperieuse Reef additionally has the one everlasting human-made construction in Rowley Shoals — a lighthouse.
The atolls sit on one of many largest continental cabinets on Earth. Round 10 million years in the past, this space was house to an enormous barrier reef system spanning greater than 1,250 miles (2,000 km), which later fell into the ocean resulting from tectonic subduction.
The atolls are believed to be a few of the final remnants of this misplaced ecosystem, together with Ningaloo Reef, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands and the Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, in keeping with a examine printed in February 2025.
Associated: See all the very best photographs of Earth from area
The collective ecosystems of Rowley Shoals skilled an enormous decline within the Nineteen Seventies when the islands grew to become widespread with vacationers and began internet hosting deep-sea fishing expeditions.
Consequently, the realm is now protected by two marine reserves: Rowley Shoals Marine Park, which incorporates Imperieuse Reef and Clerke Reef; and Mermaid Reef Marine Park, which protects Mermaid Reef and its surrounding waters. This has helped the respective ecosystems to recuperate to pre-tourism ranges.
At present, the atolls are house to all kinds of marine life, together with sea turtles, reef sharks and big clams, in addition to round 900 different species of fish, mollusks and corals, in keeping with the Atlas of Dwelling Australia.
Rowley Shoals is at present listed as among the finest locations to go scuba diving in Australia, exterior of the Nice Barrier Reef, in keeping with the Skilled Affiliation of Diving Instructors (PADI). Nonetheless, the atolls’ diving season is proscribed to between September and December to assist reduce the impacts of those guests.
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