Geography Atlas
Marine Record

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef belongs in the atlas as a marine geography record defined by reef-chain extent, shelf position, shallow-water structure, and its relationship to an adjacent continental coastline.

Great Barrier Reef
Image: NASA/Kjell Lindgren ยท Public domain

Shelf geography

This page should explain how the reef system occupies shallow marine space, how the chain relates to shelf margins and coast, and why its physical structure supports a dedicated marine branch in the atlas.