First geo-marine survey of living cold-water Lophelia reefs in the Ionian Sea (Mediterranean basin) |
| |
Authors: | Marco Taviani Alessandro Remia Cesare Corselli André Freiwald Elisa Malinverno Francesco Mastrototaro Alessandra Savini Angelo Tursi |
| |
Institution: | (1) Marine Geology Division, ISMAR, CNR, Bologna, Italy;(2) Department of Geological Sciences and Geotechnologies, Milano-Bicocca University, Milan, Italy;(3) Institute of Paleontology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany;(4) Department of Zoology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Abstract
Prosperous deep coral mounds including living colonies of Lophelia pertusa together with Madrepora oculata and Desmophyllum dianthus (= D. cristagalli) have been discovered in 2000, by fishery operations on the eastern side of the Ionian Sea. The living coral mounds are located between ca. 300 and 1,100 m on a gently dipping shelf off Apulia at Santa Maria di Leuca (SML), and characterized by a complex seabed topography. Side scan sonar, shallow high-resolution seismics and sampling indicate that these Lophelia-bearing coral mounds colonize quasi-indurate (firmground) Pleistocene sediment. At places live corals were found on Pleistocene coral-hardgrounds. The fauna associated with these Ionian modern coral mounds is less diversified than modern Eastern Atlantic counterparts. The core of living coral mounds colonies is at present located in 500–700 m and is tentatively suggested that their survival is mostly controlled by oceanographic factors. The SML coral banks represent so far a unique example of living Lophelia-bearing coral mounds in the Mediterranean basin.This revised version was published online in January 2005 with corrections to the author name and figure captions 4 and 5. |
| |
Keywords: | Deep coral Living Lophelia reefs Ionian Sea Mediterranean Recent |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|