Background. Local management action to address coral-reef stressors can improve reef health and mitigate the effects of global climate change. Coastal development and runoff lead to sedimentation, which directly impacts coral recruitment, growth, mortality, and the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide.

Sediment particles smother reef organisms and reduce light available for photosynthesis. Excessive sedmentation can adversely affect the structure and function of the coral reef ecosystem by altering both physical and biological processes.

Increased sediment runoff ultimately increases sedimentation on coastal reefs, reduces the clarity of coastal waters and restricts the growth of light-dependent plants and animals. reduce light availability for coral and seagrass photosynthesis due to increased turbidity.

So to answer your question: Yes, coral reefs are biochemical sediments and very important ones, too, since they grow really fast! As noted in your quotation: Biochemical sedimentary rocks are created when organisms use materials dissolved in air or water to build their tissue!

The most important causes for coral reef degradation are coastal development and excessive exploitation of its resources. Overfishing and the use of destructive fishing methods have decimated fish populations on reefs and destroyed their habitats as well.

Scientists now know that high concentrations of suspended sediment can interfere with filter feeding by organisms such as clams, reduce coral recruitment, alter the quantity and quality of light available for photosynthesis –– essential for growth of coral and plants such as seagrass –– and even smother corals.

Much of the sediment that is washed to the Reef is very fine and can stay suspended in the water for a long time, often travelling a great distance away from or along the coast. Sediment can also affect the reproductive cycle and early development of coral and some species of fish, and damage gills.

Sediment is the result of erosion. Sedimentation is the build-up of eroded soil particles that are transported in runoff from their site of origin and deposited in drainage systems, on other ground surfaces, or in bodies of water or wetlands.

A coral reef is made of thin layers of calcium carbonate Stony corals (or scleractinians) are the corals primarily responsible for laying the foundations of, and building up, reef structures. Massive reef structures are formed when each individual stony coral organism—or polyp—secretes a skeleton of calcium carbonate.

Often times, surface runoff from heavy rainfall or storms and hurricanes is another leading cause of the effects of sediment on coral reefs. Sediments are washed away in the form of runoff during these periods and end up in the ocean. When these sediments settle on top of our reefs, they again smother our corals…

There are many types and sources of pollution from land-based activities, for example: Sedimentation has been identified as a primary stressor for the existence and recovery of coral species and their habitats. Sediment deposited onto reefs can smother corals and interfere with their ability to feed, grow, and reproduce.

Pollution that originates on land but finds its way into coastal waters. Sedimentation has been identified as a primary stressor for the existence and recovery of coral species and their habitats. Sediment deposited onto reefs can smother corals and interfere with their ability to feed, grow, and reproduce.

The dead material is digested by microbes producing hydrogen sulfide, a compound that is highly toxic for the remaining corals. The process gains momentum and the remainder of the sediment-covered coral surface is killed in less than 24 hours.