Scott Reef
Coordinates: 13 ° 38 ′ 0 ″ S , 122 ° 5 ′ 0 ″ E
The Scott Reef is a marine reserve administered by the Australian federal government. It is located about 300 km from the Western Australian coast and 390 km northeast of Derby . It consists of a southern and northern reef and it was formed from a geological fault in the Jurassic and Triassic . There is also a large natural gas field below the reef that has been exploited since 2010.
location
The Scott Reef located 23 km south-west of Seringapatam Reef , which consists of deposits originated in the Jurassic and Triassic. The tidal range in this area is 4.5 m. The North Reef is 16.3 km long and 14.4 km wide, with a lagoon depth of 21 m. The South Reef is 17 km crescent shaped and the lagoon depth is 55 m. The two reefs are separated by a 400 to 700 m deep channel.
The marine reserve covers an area of 275.90 km², which is registered on the Australian National Heritage List .
The formation of the Scottriff goes back to the Triassic and shows a development of a long geomorphological process on the continental shelf of Australia. This evolutionary process gave birth to an unusual fauna not normally found on the Western Australian coast.
Marine fauna
At the Scott Reef there are fish that are normally only found around Indonesia . 51 species of fish, 14 mussels, 6 echinoderms and seagrasses are endemic, as are various coral species.
Seabirds such as wedge-tailed shearwater ( Puffinus pacificus ), brown booby ( Sula leucogaster ), lesser frigatebird ( Fregata ariel ) and Noddy Tern ( Anous stolidus ), Sooty Tern ( Sterna fuscata ) and five Seeschlangenarten were found at Scott Reef: Timor-Riffschlange ( Aipysurus laevis ), A. Duboisii , A. Fuscus , striped oar snake ( Hydrophis melanicephalus ) and Emydocephalus annulatus .
The Scott Reef also differs from the Rowley Shoals in the presence of other sand-dwelling species of animals and giant clams .
Striped row snake
White-bellied boobies
Sooty tern
Giant clams
Environment: coral death, fishing, tourism and gas field
In 1998 there was a major coral death at Scott Reef , which particularly affected hard corals; this had further negative effects on fish and invertebrates .
In the waters off the northwest coast of Australia, including the Scott Reef , Indonesian fishermen can fish using traditional methods, with the permission of the Australian Government, in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding concluded . These traditional fishermen catch sea cucumbers , which they process into bêche-de-mer , as well as fish, collect clams and shark fins.
Some private charter ships come from Australian ports with tourists on board to the Scott Reef or Seringapatam Reef .
The Browse LNG gas field, which lies beneath the southern and northern reefs, is being developed by Woodside Petroleum . This gas field contains an estimated 30 billion km³ of natural gas and has been developed in the Torosa gas field since 2010.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c environment.gov.au : Scott Reef and Surrounds - Commonwealth Area, Timor Sea, EXT, Australia , in English, accessed August 26, 2011
- ↑ woodside.com.au ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Browse LNG Development Fact Sheet , accessed August 26, 2011
- ↑ dampierrockart.net (PDF; 118 kB): Browse LNG Looking For A Home , in English, accessed on August 26, 2011
