Flinders Reefs
- ISS006-E-5938
- 08 December 2002
- 01:23 UTC
The Flinders Reefs are a large reef complex — one of the largest in the Coral Sea — located 260 km southeast from the Queensland city of Cairns and 120 km beyond the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The reef complex consits of several distinct reefs spread over an area measuring 65 km by 25 km. The largest component is that of North Flinders Reef (its southeast corner is partially imaged above), measuring 34 km in length and 23 km in width, covering an area of around 600 km². North Flinders is, in turn, composed from a number of smaller units that together enclose a deep open lagoon.
Located in the waters close to and around North Flinders Reef are a number of smaller satellite reef systems. These include: South Flinders Reef (the second largest unit in the complex, measuring 15 km by 5 km) located 3 km off the southern end of North Flinders Reef; the small (3 km by 2 km) Heralds Surprise in the northeast; and the slightly larger Dart Reef (3 km across) in the northwest.
Two small sandy islets (Flinders Cay, the largest is up to 200 m long) emerge above the surface and provide habitat for sea birds, turtles, and hermit crabs.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
