Marion Reef
- STS064-115-98
- 17 September 1994
- 01:58 UTC
Marion Reef, located 180 km beyond the Great Barrier Reef, consists of a circular reef formation of around 35 km across. The reef has three main units — Marion, Long and Wansfell — located on the eastern side, and a number of smaller isolated reefs on the west. The formation sits atop a submarine feature known as the Marion Plateau which is separated from the larger Queensland Plateau to the north by the Townsville Trough.
Three small sand cays are located on the eastern side of Marion Reef: Paget Cay (on Long Reef), Carola Cay (south of Long Reef) and Brodie Cay (on Wansfell Reef). Extensive areas of reef become exposed at low tide.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
