"The development of Fraser Island dramatically reduced sediment supply to the continental shelf north of the island… This facilitated widespread coral reef formation in the southern and central Great Barrier Reef and was a necessary precondition for its development," the scientists argue.
Without Fraser Island to guide sediment off the continental shelf and into the deep, conditions would not have suited the formation of the reef.
The Great Barrier Reef has a controversial backstory. It is about half a million years old. That means that the reef was formed long after conditions were appropriate for the growth of coral.
The reef is in trouble right now; approximately half of its coral cover has already been lost. Experts agree that it all could be gone by 2050. UNESCO insists on putting the reef on a list of world heritage sites that are “in danger”.
However, lobbying efforts from Australian government and business have prevented the reef from being added to UNESCO's "in danger" list, even though its coral colonies have suffered from bleaching, and in some sections corals were reported to be dying.