Artificial reef

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Constructing an artificial reef using concrete blocks

Tires being placed in an array to investigate their effectiveness as a fish habitat. An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing. Many reefs are built using objects that were built for other purposes, for example by sinking oil rigs (through the Rigs-to-Reefs program), scuttling ships, or by deploying rubble or construction debris. Other artificial reefs are purpose built (e.g. the reef balls) from PVC or concrete. Shipwrecks may become artificial reefs when preserved on the sea floor. Regardless of construction method, artificial reefs generally provide hard surfaces where algae and invertebrates such as barnacles, corals, and oysters attach; the accumulation of attached marine life in turn provides intricate structure and food for assemblages of fish.

Contents

1 History 2 Development 3 Reefs o 3.1 Florida o 3.2 Redbird Reef 4 Artificial surfing reefs 5 Electro Mineral Accretion (EMA) 6 Environmental concerns 7 See also 8 References

History
The construction of artificial reefs is thousands of years old. Ancient Persians blocked the mouth of the Tigris River to thwart Indian pirates by building an artificial reef,[1] and during the First Punic War the Romans built a reef across the mouth of the Carthaginian harbor in Sicily to trap the enemy ships within[2] and assist in driving the Carthaginians from the island. Artificial reefs to increase fish yields or for algaculture have been used at least since 17th century Japan, when rubble and rocks were used to grow kelp,[3] while the earliest recorded construction of artificial reef in the United States is from 1830s when logs from huts were used off the coast of South Carolina to improve fishing.[4] Since at least the 1830s, American fishermen used interlaced logs to build artificial reefs. More recently, castaway junk, such as old refrigerators, shopping carts, ditched cars, out-of-service vending machines replaced the logs in ad hoc reefs. Officially sanctioned projects have incorported decommissioned subway cars, vintage battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and oil drilling rigs.[5]

Development
Artificial reefs tend to develop in more or less predictable stages. First, where an ocean current encounters a vertical structure, it can create a plankton-rich upwelling that provides a reliable feeding spot for small fish such as sardines and minnows, which draw in pelagic predators like bluefin tuna and sharks. Next come creatures seeking protection from the ocean's lethal opennesshole and crevice dwellers such as grouper, snapper, squirrelfish, eels, and triggerfish. Opportunistic predators such as jack and barracuda also appear, waiting for their prey to venture out. Over months and years the reef structure becomes encrusted with algae, tunicates, hard and soft corals, and sponges.[5]

Reefs
Florida

Florida is the site of many artificial reefs, many created from deliberately sunken ships, including Coast Guard cutters Duane and Bibb and the U.S. Navy landing ship Spiegel Grove.[5] Osborne Reef Main article: Osborne Reef

Tires constituting Osborne Reef (2007) In the early 1970s, more than 2,000,000 used vehicle tires were dumped off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida to form an artificial reef. Catastrophically, the tires were not properly secured to the reef structures. Ocean currents broke them loose, sending them crashing into the developing reef and its natural neighbors. As of 2009, less than 100,000 of the tires had been removed after more than 10 years of efforts.[6] Neptune Reef Neptune Reef was originally conceived as an art project that would gradually decay. Burial at sea became a way of financing the project. As of 2011, about 200 "placements" had taken place. Cremated remains are mixed with cement and either encased in columns or molded into sea-star, brain-coral, 15 foot-tall castings of lions or other shapes before entering the water.[5] USS Oriskany

Sea life growing on the remains of the USS Oriskany, intentionally sunk in 2006 to become an artificial reef.

The world's largest artificial reef was created by the purposeful sinking of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, in 2006.[7] USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg The second-largest artificial reef will be the USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a former World War II era troop transport that served as a spacecraft tracking ship after the war. The Vandenberg was scuttled seven miles off Key West on May 27, 2009, in 140 feet of clear water.[8] Supporters expect the ship to draw recreational divers away from natural reefs, allowing those reefs to recover from damage from overuse.[9]

Redbird Reef
Main article: Redbird Reef

Surplus Redbird cars pass under the George Washington Bridge on the way to being sunk to form an artificial reef. In late 2000, The MTA New York City Transit decided to phase out its outdated fleet of subway cars to make room for the R142 and R142A trains. These subway cars, (Redbirds), ran on the IRT lines in the New York City Subway system for 40 years. Each car was sold, stripped, decontaminated, loaded on a barge, and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. Some had number plates removed because of rust. 1,200 subway cars were sunk. In September 2007 the MTA approved a contract worth $6 million[citation needed], to send 1,600 of its retired subway cars to be used as artificial reefs. Most of these trains ran on The BMT/IND lines. The trains include the R32, R38, R40 and R42. These models are stainless steel. The MTA will replace them with the R160A and R160B trains. The plastic front ends were removed before sinking. The retired fleet included old work trains and cars damaged beyond repair.

Artificial surfing reefs

Man made objects provide hiding places for marine life, like this Sarcastic fringehead Artificial surfing reefs have been created for surfing, coastal protection, habitat enhancement and coastal research. The world's first attempt was made in El Segundo, near Los Angeles, in California. The next attempt was at Mosman Beach, Perth, Western Australia. This reef was constructed of large granite rocks placed in a pyramidal shape to form an appropriate breaking wave form that would suit surfers. An artificial reef constructed of over 400 massive, geotextile bags (each one larger than a bus) filled with sand was constructed in 2000 at Narrowneck on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. This artificial reef had two objectives: stabilizing beach nourishment and improving surfing conditions. In the United States, in particular, demanding coastal permit requirements and environmental opposition present major obstacles to building surfing reefs. As of February 2006, the only reef built in the U.S. for surfing is southern California's "Pratte's Reef", which failed to create waves. Reefs built to enhance marine habitat face less environmental opposition, in part because they are in deeper water and further offshore. A number of such man-made reefs exist near Florida and Hawaii. Artificial surfing reefs typically resemble a "submerged breakwater", and proponents suggest benefits beyond surfing conditions. Many coastlines are subject to powerful waves that crash directly onshore. An artificial reef 150-300 yards offshore might create surfing opportunities and, by dissipating wave energy, make swimming safer and reduce coastal erosion. The USS Spiegel Grove was sunk in 2002 to make an artificial reef. Europe's first artificial reef was approved in 2008. Construction began August 30, 2008 in Boscombe, Bournemouth, UK, and opened in November 2009. The multi-purpose reef reef is expected to create waves up to 30% larger and double the number of surfing days annually. Construction on this reef began in June 2008, and was completed in August 2009.[10] Boscombe Reef was built from large sand-filled geotextile containers, totaling 13,000 cubic meters.

Electro Mineral Accretion (EMA)

Mineral accretion involves applying a low voltage current to a metallic structure to cause limestone to crystallize on the surface, to which coral planulae can attach and grow. The electric current also speeds post-attachment growth.[11]

EMA works like charging a battery with a positive pole, the cathode, and a negative pole, the anode. Applying electric current attracts various dissolved minerals to either the cathode or the anode. Chemical reactions take place at both poles. On the anode, bubbles of oxygen and chlorine gas form. These bubbles float to the surface and dissolve into the air. On the cathode, bubbles of hydrogen gas and a limestone precipitate appear. The voltage is low enough that it can be generated by floating solar panels or from wave motion. A coalition of scientists named the Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA)[11] is developing a technique called the Biorock Process using mineral accretion for reef restoration, mariculture, and shoreline protection.

Environmental concerns
According to The Ocean Conservancy, a Washington-based environmental group, the Osbourne reef may be an indication that the benefits of artificial reefs need to be re-examined. Jack Sobel, a senior scientist at the group, has said "There's little evidence that artificial reefs have a net benefit", citing concerns such as toxicity, damage to ecosystems and concentrating fish into one place (worsening overfishing).[12]

See also

Artificial wave Biorock Marine debris Multi-purpose reef Sinking ships for wreck diving sites Spawning bed

References
1. ^ Thomas Wayne Williams, A Case Study of Artificial Reef Decision-Making in the Florida Keys, Virginia Commonwealth University [1]. Retrieved 20 December 2006. 2. ^ Ron Hess, Denis Rushworth, Michael V. Hynes, John E. Peters, Disposal Options for Ships, Chapter 5, "Reefing," Rand Corporation, [2]. Retrieved 20 December 2006. 3. ^ Fisheries Technologies for Developing Countries, National Academies Press [3]. Retrieved December 20, 2006. 4. ^ Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, GUIDELINES FOR MARINE ARTIFICIAL REEF MATERIALS, [4]. Retrieved December 20, 2006. 5. ^ a b c d "Artificial Reefs". National Geographic. February 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2011. 6. ^ Peppard, Jim (2009-08-21). "Florida tire reef removal ends for the year". St. Petersburg, Florida, USA: WTSP. Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2010-12-01. 7. ^ Olsen, Erik (2008-08-19). "Out of Commission Above Water, but Not Below It". The New York Times.

8. ^ "WWII-era ship becomes sunken reef off Key West, AT&T Online News, May 27, 2009". My.att.net. 1985-01-01. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 9. ^ Ship to Become 2nd Largest Intentional Reef , Associated Press, published in New York Times, May 25, 2009, retrieved May 25, 2009 10. ^ http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/surfreef/surfreefstories/4716058.Opti mism_at_Boscombe_surf_reef___s_opening_day/ 11. ^ a b "Global Coral Reef Alliance". Retrieved 2009-07-18. 12. ^ "Florida Raises Ill-Fated Artificial Reefs". Enn.com. 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2009-0718. [hide]

v t e

Coastal management

Management

Coastal management Accretion Coastal engineering Integrated coastal zone management Managed retreat Submersion A-jack Accropode Akmon Artificial reef Breachway Breakwater Cliff stabilization Dolos Flood wall Floodgate Gabion Groyne Levee Hard engineering Honeycomb sea wall Hudson's equation Revetment Riprap Seawall Tetrapod

Hard engineering

Training wall Xbloc Beach nourishment Beach drainage Sand dune stabilization Soft engineering Soft shore remediation Beach evolution Coastal erosion Land reclamation Longshore transport Modern recession of beaches

Soft engineering

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