Journal
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Volume 45, Issue 12, Pages 3042-3054Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/esp.4950
Keywords
coral reef; high-resolution bathymetry; fractal law; roughness; volcanic island
Funding
- GLADYS
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The topographical complexity of coral reefs is of primary importance for a number of hydrodynamical and ecological processes. The present study is based on a series of high-resolution seabottom elevation measurements along the Maupiti Barrier Reef, French Polynesia. Several statistical metrics and spectral analysis are used to characterize the spatial evolution of the coral geometrical structure from the reef crest to the backreef. A consistent fractal-like power law exists in the spectral density of bottom elevation for length scales between 0.1 and 7 m, while at larger scale, the reef structure shows a different pattern. Such a fine characterization of the reef geometrical structure provides key elements to reconstruct the reef history, to improve the representation of reef roughness in hydrodynamical models and to monitor the evolution of coral reef systems in the context of global change. (c) 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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