World's largest deep sea coral reef mapped off the United States' east coast

The reef is around 310 miles (500 km) long, extending from Florida to South Carolina. In some places, it is as wide as 68 miles (110 km).

Scientists have finally been able to map the largest-known deep-sea coral reef, which is located off the Atlantic coast of the United States.

While the existence of this reef has been known to scientists since the 1960s, there was no technology to get a clear picture of its dimensions till now.

Underwater mapping is a new technology that has helped construct the ocean floor's 3D images.

Derek Sowers, an oceanographer who works with Ocean Exploration Trust, a non-profit organisation, told The Guardian that the reef in question “has been right under our noses, waiting to be discovered.”

A number of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency have published maps of the same in the Geomatics journal.

The reef is around 310 miles (500 km) long, and extends from Florida to South Carolina. In some places, it is as wide as 68 miles (110 km).

The reef was discovered at depths where sunlight cannot reach, between 200 and 1,000 meters (655 to 3,280 ft). This deep down, the coral must filter food particles out of the water in order to get energy, unlike tropical coral reefs where photosynthesis is crucial for growth.

According to the experts, deep coral reefs provide as a home for a variety of fish species, including swordfish, octopuses, shrimp, sea stars, and sharks.

Because they are more accessible, tropical reefs are more known to scientists than to snorkelers or divers. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the biggest tropical coral reef system in the world, spanning around 1,430 miles (2,300 km).

Larger deep-sea reefs might be found in the future, according to Sowers, as high-resolution maps are available for only about 25 per cent of the ocean's bottom.

Shipboard sonar equipment with high resolution is used to map the ocean floor. More of the ocean floor is covered by deep-sea reefs than by tropical reefs.

Climate change and disturbance from oil and gas production pose threats to both types of habitat, according to Erik Cordes, a co-author of the recent study and a marine biologist at Temple University.