legal definition of a reef

Bob Buddemeier buddrw at kgs.ukans.edu
Fri Jan 11 18:17:02 EST 2002


There are many definitions of  'reef' in all of the categories mentioned.  A
few are 'clear,' whether or not any are 'proper' depends on the user and
intended usage, and 'legal' is strictly a matter of the political
jurisdiction
concerned -- some may have legal definitions of reefs, most probably don't.

For a recent summary review of reef definitions and their characteristics
(with
references), see: Kleypas, J.A., Buddemeier, R.W. and Gattuso, J.-P., 2001.
Defining 'coral reef' for the age of global change. International Journal of
Earth Sciences, 90: 426-437.

The most important recommendation to all serious (scientific, managerial or
regulatory) users of the term is to NOT assume that you understand what
somebody else means by the term, or that they will understand you, but to
provide and ask for explicit definitions.

Bob Buddemeier

Sabine Goetz wrote:

> >Dear coral-listers,
> >we are a group of biologists in Tobago, doing some research on artificial
> >reefs.Because we are not sure if its legal to use the term "reef" for our
> >project, it would be very interesting to know, if there exists a legal
and
> >
> >clear (biological,nautical or geological) definition. Maybe somebody
knows
> >a proper definition of this term.It would be very
> >nice if you answered us per e-mail.
> >Thanks in advance
> >   Sabine Goetz
> >
>
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--
Dr. Robert W. Buddemeier
Kansas Geological Survey
University of Kansas
1930 Constant Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66047 USA
Ph (1) (785) 864-2112
Fax (1) (785) 864-5317
e-mail:  buddrw at kgs.ukans.edu

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