DiscoverWord on the ReefS2 E38: Before the Flood: How Fossils Built the Great Barrier Reef (and the Pyramids!)
S2 E38: Before the Flood: How Fossils Built the Great Barrier Reef (and the Pyramids!)

S2 E38: Before the Flood: How Fossils Built the Great Barrier Reef (and the Pyramids!)

Update: 2025-12-09
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What do the Egyptian Pyramids, the Greek Parthenon, the Notre Dame Cathedral and Melbourne's Parliament House all have in common? They are all built out of fossilised reefs, aka limestone!

Today we’re taking a journey through deep lime - I mean time - to answer some of those burning questions like: How old is the Great Barrier Reef? What ancient forces built this coral colossus? Why are there fossilised reefs hundreds of metres above sea level and kilometres inland? And perhaps most importantly... What do these lessons from the ancient karst - I mean past - mean for our future?

To help us dig up the answers, we’re joined by Russell Kelley - a coral geologist, biologist, and author of the acclaimed Be Your Own Guide coral identification book series - who knows corals both living and extinct like the back of his hand.

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S2 E38: Before the Flood: How Fossils Built the Great Barrier Reef (and the Pyramids!)

S2 E38: Before the Flood: How Fossils Built the Great Barrier Reef (and the Pyramids!)

Tanya Murphy