Corals and mollusks are also abundant in shallow water and produce substantial accumulations of carbonate. When combined with the stability of carbonate minerals in warm, low pressure water and a limited influx of siliciclastic sediment from rivers, the biological production of carbonate produces extensive carbonate shelves. Thus, many of the sedimentation processes in carbonate platforms and siliciclastic platforms are similar. Also, large carbonate-producing organisms can live in quiet water environments. This is due to biological rather than hydrodynamic characteristics.
Reefs are build-ups of carbonate away from the shoreline.
The building of reefs is unique to carbonate sedimentation and dramatically affects the distribution of depositional environments. Reefs in the Caribbean can keep up with post glacial rates of sea level rise which are faster than average due to melting of ice. In colder water, they can't always keep up, and they drown. Because reefs are hard large objects right from the start, they are difficult to erode. Wave and storm activity can break off chunks of corals which are commonly deposited in a sand apron behind the reef or on the fore slope basinward of the reef.