Editing Coral reef (section)

===Other reef types or variants===
[[File:Maldives small island.jpg|thumb|right|A small [[atoll]] in the [[Maldives]]]]
[[File:Maldives - Kurumba Island.jpg|thumb|right|Inhabited [[cay]] in the [[Maldives]]]]

* '''Apron reef''' – short reef resembling a fringing reef, but more sloped; extending out and downward from a point or peninsular shore. The initial stage of a fringing reef.<ref name=CRISG>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ''Coral Reef Information System Glossary'', 2014.</ref>
* '''Bank reef''' – isolated, flat-topped reef larger than a patch reef and usually on mid-shelf regions and linear or semi-circular in shape; a type of platform reef.<ref name=CRI/>
* '''Patch reef''' – common, isolated, comparatively small reef outcrop, usually within a [[lagoon]] or [[embayment]], often circular and surrounded by sand or [[seagrass]]. Can be considered as a type of platform reef {{who|date=April 2019}} or as features of fringing reefs, atolls and barrier reefs.<ref name=CRI/> The patches may be surrounded by a ring of reduced seagrass cover referred to as a ''grazing halo''.<ref>{{citation|first1=Hugh|last1=Sweatman|first2=D. Ross|last2=Robertson|date=1994|title=Grazing halos and predation on juvenile Caribbean surgeonfishes|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=111|issue=1–6|page=1|doi=10.3354/meps111001|bibcode=1994MEPS..111....1S|url=https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/111/m111p001.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/111/m111p001.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=24 April 2019|doi-access=free}}</ref> 
* '''Ribbon reef''' – long, narrow, possibly winding reef, usually associated with an atoll lagoon. Also called a shelf-edge reef or sill reef.<ref name=CRISG/>
* '''Drying reef''' – a part of a reef which is above water at low tide but submerged at high tide<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beazley |first=P. B. |date=1991-01-01 |title=Reefs and the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ijec/6/4/article-p281_1.xml |journal=International Journal of Estuarine and Coastal Law |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=281–312 |doi=10.1163/187529991X00162 |issn=0268-0106}}</ref>
* '''Habili''' – reef specific to the [[Red Sea]]; does not reach near enough to the surface to cause visible [[Breaking wave|surf]]; may be a hazard to ships (from the [[Arabic]] for "unborn")
* '''[[Microatoll]]''' – community of species of corals; vertical growth limited by average tidal height; growth morphologies offer a low-resolution record of patterns of sea level change; fossilized remains can be dated using [[Radiocarbon dating|radioactive carbon dating]] and have been used to reconstruct [[Holocene]] [[sea level]]s<ref name=Smithers>{{cite journal |author1=Smithers, S.G. |author2=Woodroffe, C.D. |year=2000 |title=Microatolls as sea-level indicators on a mid-ocean atoll |journal=Marine Geology |volume=168 |issue=1–4 |pages=61–78 |doi=10.1016/S0025-3227(00)00043-8| bibcode=2000MGeol.168...61S}}</ref>
* '''[[Cay]]s''' – small, low-elevation, sandy islands formed on the surface of coral reefs from eroded material that piles up, forming an area above sea level; can be stabilized by plants to become habitable; occur in tropical environments throughout the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]], [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Indian Ocean]]s (including the Caribbean and on the [[Great Barrier Reef]] and Belize Barrier Reef), where they provide habitable and agricultural land
* '''[[Seamount]]''' or '''[[guyot]]''' – formed when a coral reef on a volcanic island subsides; tops of seamounts are rounded and guyots are flat; flat tops of guyots, or ''tablemounts'', are due to erosion by waves, winds, and atmospheric processes