Edit Organization: Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

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'''Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary''' is one of the largest near-shore live-bottom [[reef]]s in the [[southeastern United States]]. The sanctuary, designated in January 1981, is located {{convert|19|mi|nmi km}} off [[Sapelo Island]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and is part of the U.S. [[National Marine Sanctuary]] System. Within the {{convert|22|sqmi|sqnmi km2|adj=on}} sanctuary, there are both rocky ledges and sandy flat places. The reef's rocky [[sandstone]] outcrops, submerged beneath 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) of water, can be as tall as {{convert|2|to|3|m}} and are highly complex.<ref name=AAUS2009>{{cite journal |author1=Noakes, SE |author2=Garrison, EG |author3=McFall, GB |title=Underwater Paleontology: Recovery of a Prehistoric Whale Mandible Offshore Georgia |journal=In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL. |year=2009 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10238 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130906131430/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/10238 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 6, 2013 |access-date=2013-05-07}}</ref> These nooks and crannies provide plenty of places for [[marine invertebrate]]s to latch on to and for [[fish]] to hide in. Together these animals form a dense tapestry of living creatures that in places completely hides the rock. That gives the habitat of Gray's Reef its common name — a "live bottom". Researchers from the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) and the [[University of Georgia]] have used the site to study [[invertebrate]] and [[vertebrate]] [[paleontology]] as well as the effects of [[erosion]].<ref name=AAUS2009/> ==Human occupation== Although Gray's Reef is more than {{convert|19|mi|nmi km}} beyond today's shoreline, and 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) below the surface of the [[Atlantic Ocean]], it was once dry land and part of the mainland of [[North America]] as recently as 8,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiasfossils.com/20-humans-in-georgia.html|title=The arrival of humans in Georgia|publisher=GeorgiaFossils.com|author=Thomas Thurman|access-date=November 9, 2018|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109234627/http://www.georgiasfossils.com/20-humans-in-georgia.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Human occupation of the area dates back at least 13,250 years, and coincides with one of the most dramatic periods of [[climate change]] in recent earth history, toward the [[Last Glacial Period|end of the Ice Ages]] in the [[Late Pleistocene]] epoch. Sea levels were more than {{convert|200|feet|0}} lower than present levels, and the Atlantic Ocean and [[Gulf of Mexico]] shorelines were {{convert|100|mi|nmi km|0}} to seaward of their present locations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/paleoindian-period-overview|title=Paleoindian Period: Overview|publisher=New Georgia Encyclopedia (University System of Georgia)|author=David G. Anderson, University of Tennessee, Knoxville|date=June 8, 2017|access-date=November 9, 2018}}</ref> A 2003 research project undertaken by University of Georgia researchers Ervan G. Garrison, Sherri L. Littman, and Megan Mitchell, reported on Gray's Reef [[fossil]]s and artifacts, including artifacts from a period of occupation by [[Clovis culture]] and [[Paleo-Indians|Paleoindian]] hunters dating back more than 10,000 years.{{cn|date=October 2023}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * Official NOAA website: [https://graysreef.noaa.gov Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary] * Rowley, Katie. [https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo131572/noaa_22757_DS1.pdf Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary: Connectivity: Bibliography.] Silver Spring, MD: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA Central Library, 2020. {{Commons category}} {{Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state)}} {{National marine sanctuaries of the United States}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Protected areas of McIntosh County, Georgia]] [[Category:National Marine Sanctuaries of the United States]] [[Category:Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Protected areas established in 1981]]