首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 837 毫秒
1.
珊瑚是地球上最古老的原住民,具有近6×108年的发育史,弱势群居、喜温和原地长成是珊瑚的基本特征。作者介绍了珊瑚-珊瑚礁的基本特征,综述了跨十年调查的研究区珍贵照片资料和相关认识,指出中国是全球主要的珊瑚-珊瑚礁国家,地位举足轻重;珊瑚-珊瑚礁作为地球生物多样性的代表,造岛、固礁、护鱼、防护岛岸流失,形成南海四大群岛280余座岛、礁、滩、沙,所构建庞大海洋生态系统是无与伦比的海洋生态资源和寸土寸金的南海海洋国土。提出划分南海珊瑚-珊瑚礁为中央区和周缘区2个分布区,阐述了南海中央区珊瑚-珊瑚礁的基本特征,系统汇集报道了间隔10年2个科考航次调查在浅水礁盘浮潜、至20 m水深浅潜-深潜和礁盘及开展岛、礁、滩、沙地质调查的发现,包括科学定名46种六放石珊瑚和6种八放软珊瑚等成果,同时,收集了西沙、中沙、东沙和南沙群岛海域的相关调查航次珊瑚照片;进一步阐述了单体环礁和复合环礁的特征及分布,并进行了初步对比,指出永乐环礁是南海唯一一个真正的切合达尔文模式的环礁,也是环礁发展到最高阶段的产物,构成现代海洋珊瑚-珊瑚礁形成演化研究最好的天然实验室。  相似文献   

2.
Analyses of high resolution, seismic reflection profiles and surface sediment samples indicate that the Cat Island shelf is presently in an incipiently drowned state. This small carbonate bank is characterized by a thin (<4 m), coarse-grained, relict sediment cover, along with limited reef development, and a relatively deep (20–30 m) margin indicating that it has been unable to ‘keep-up’ with Holocene sea-level rise. Early flooding at relatively high rates of sea-level rise (4 m kyr-1, 5–8 × 103 yr BP) in conjunction with small bank size and relatively low elevation, led to a reduced rate of carbonate accumulation and incipient drowning. The shelf edge currently lies beneath the zone of maximum carbonate production and exposes the interior shelf to open marine conditions which may result in permanent drowning if it is unable to ‘catch-up’ with continued sea-level rise. Sediment facies patterns are largely oriented perpendicular or oblique to the shelf edge and appear to be controlled by shelf circulation patterns focused by bank-margin reentrants. In comparison with most of the northern Bahamas, the Cat Island shelf was flooded earlier and at relatively higher rates of Holocene sea-level rise which led to selective drowning, implying that carbonate platforms need not drown synchronously over widespread areas as commonly thought. The potential rock record of this incipient drowning event would be a thin, open-marine sand sheet of highly degraded cryptocrystalline and aggregate grains associated with poorly developed reefs.  相似文献   

3.
Pinxian Wang 《地球科学进展》2019,34(12):1222-1233
The discovery of deep sea coral forests in the spring of 2018 filled a significant gap in the benthos research and even in carbon cycling in the South China Sea. Previously, the researches of deep-sea benthos were restricted to the sediment-covered soft bottom due to the technical limitations, and the rocky hard bottom was believed to be barren of life. Using submersible technique in the mid-1990s, deep-water coral reefs were first discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, which opened a new research direction in marine sciences. Two groups of deep sea corals have been recognized: scleractinian hexacorals and gorgonian octocorals. The aragonite skeleton of the former group build up deep sea coral reefs, while the latter make up deep sea coral forests with high-Mg calcite skeleton in many gorgonian corals. All kinds of carbonate coral skeletons can record environment changes of the deep sea and provide excellent material for high-resolution paleoceanography. Although the development of deep sea coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean is hampered by its extremely shallow aragonite compensation depth, deep sea coral forests are ubiquitous in the ocean. Up to now, most parts of the Pacific have not yet explored in this respect, and deep sea corals remain outside the research scope. The present paper is a literature review and calls for attention to the deep sea forests. It starts with the composition and distribution of deep sea coral reefs and forests, followed by discussions on the significance of deep sea coral forests in marine ecology and in paleoceanographic reconstructions.  相似文献   

4.
南海西北部珊瑚礁记录所反映的新构造运动*   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2       下载免费PDF全文
珊瑚礁是发育于热带海洋环境中由生物作用和地质作用共同形成的地质体,具有独特的新构造运动意义。南海西北部珊瑚礁记录所反映的新构造运动主要有火山活动、地壳升降运动和地震活动等。珊瑚礁区第四纪火山活跃,到现代已停止活动,部分火山构成珊瑚礁的基座,个别出露海面为火山岛;地壳升降运动差异较大,雷州半岛西南部珊瑚礁呈上升趋势,上升率为0.02~0.05mm/a;西沙群岛等岛礁地壳运动则呈下降趋势,下降率为-0.07~-0.10mm/a,岛礁中的造礁石珊瑚生长率、礁顶和灰沙岛的堆积率均相当于或大于地壳下降率与现代海平面上升率的总和;南海西北部珊瑚礁区内地震活动较强,尤其是1994年12月31日和1995年1月10日在雷州半岛西南部海域发生了6.1级和6.2 级地震,这两次地震对该区珊瑚礁的发育有较大的影响。  相似文献   

5.
利用全谱直读等离子体光谱(ICPAES)的分析方法精确分析了南海珊瑚的SrCa和MgCa比值,结合实测表层海水温度(SST),标定了海南岛南部三亚海域和西沙海域两个滨珊瑚的SrCa和MgCa温度计。在此基础上,尝试对两个南海北部全新世时期的珊瑚进行SST记录重建。结果显示约540aB.P.(小冰期)西沙海域夏季月均SST较现代低约1℃,而约6500aB.P.(大暖期)海南岛三亚海域夏季月均SST则高出现代1.0~1.5℃。  相似文献   

6.
南海北部夏季沿岸上升流近百年的强度变化   总被引:7,自引:0,他引:7  
用全谱直读ICP-AES技术测定了海南岛东部(琼东)沿岸上升流区域滨珊瑚1906—1996年的Sr/Ca比值。结果显示珊瑚Sr/Ca比值重建的琼东海域的夏季海表温度偏低,强烈地受到东亚夏季风引起沿岸冷上升流的影响。结合西沙海域的滨珊瑚海表温度记录,首次重建了1906~1993年琼东沿岸风生上升流的强度指数变化序列。结果表明琼东上升流于1906~1993期间整体呈加强趋势,并具显著的年代际波动特征,同全球趋暖密切相关。此外,重建的上升流强度指数序列还揭示了大尺度环流——厄尔尼诺一南方涛动对琼东上升流强度变化的制约。  相似文献   

7.
Coral reefs are degrading worldwide at an alarming rate. Nutrient over-enrichment is considered a major cause of this decline because degraded coral reefs generally exhibit a shift from high coral cover (low algal cover) to low coral cover with an accompanying high cover and biomass of fleshy algae. Support for such claims is equivocal at best. Critical examination of both experimental laboratory and field studies of nutrient effects on corals and coral reefs, including the Elevated Nutrient on Coral Reefs Experiment (ENCORE) enrichment experiment conducted on the Great Barrier Reef, does not support the idea that the levels of nutrient enrichment documented at anthropogenically-enriched sites can affect the physiology of corals in a harmful way, or for most cases, be the sole or major cause of shifts in coralalgal abundance. Factors other than nutrient enrichment can be significant causes of coral death and affect algal cover, and include decreased abundance of grazing fishes by fishing, and of grazing sea urchins to disease; grazing preferences of remaining grazers; temperature stress that kills coral (i.e., coral bleaching) and creates more open substrate for algal colonization; sedimentation stress that can weaken adult corals and prevent coral recruitment; coral diseases that may be secondary to coral bleaching; and outbreaks of coral predators and sea urchins that may be secondary effects of overfishing. Any factor that leads to coral death or reduces levels of herbivory will leave more substrate open for algal colonization or make the effects of even low-level enrichment more severe. Factors that contribute to an imbalance between production and consumption will result in community structure changes similar to those expected from over-enrichment. Over-enrichment can be and has been the cause of localized coral reef degradation, but the case for widespread effects is not substantiated.  相似文献   

8.
通过对南海北部大亚湾海区1976~1998年扁脑珊瑚Platygyra骨骼Cu,Pb和Cd含量的研究及其与观测记录的比较,初步认为珊瑚可以记录大亚湾海区重金属的年际变化特征;发现1979年和1991年是重金属含量比较高的年份;由扁脑珊瑚记录推测珊瑚中Cd含量短时间内可能受到了核电站兴建的影响,但近20多年来的大亚湾扁脑珊瑚及海水中重金属状况的总体变化过程可能与整个广东海域水质的变化背景基本一致,而与核电站的兴建和运行似乎没有明显的关系  相似文献   

9.
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) shelf contains a range of coral reefs on the highly turbid shallow inner shelf, where interaction occurs with terrigenous sediments. The modern hydrodynamic and sedimentation regimes at Paluma Shoals, a shore‐attached ‘turbid‐zone’ coral reef, and at Phillips Reef, a fringing reef located 20 km offshore, have been studied to document the mechanisms controlling turbidity. At each reef, waves, currents and near‐bed turbidity were measured for a period of ≈1 month. Bed sediments were sampled at 135 sites. On the inner shelf, muddy sands are widespread, with admixed terrigenous and carbonate gravel components close to the reefs and islands, except on their relatively sheltered SW side, where sandy silty clays occur. At Paluma Shoals, the coral assemblage is characteristic of inner‐shelf or sheltered habitats on the GBR shelf (dominated by Galaxea fascicularis, up to >50% coral cover) and is broadly similar to that at Phillips Reef, further offshore and in deeper water. The sediments of the Paluma Shoals reef flats consist of mixed terrigenous and calcareous gravels and sands, with intermixed silts and clays, whereas the reef slope is dominated by gravelly quartz sands. The main turbidity‐generating process is wave‐driven resuspension, and turbidity ranges up to 175 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). In contrast, at Phillips Reef, turbidity is <15 NTU and varies little. At Paluma Shoals, turbidity of >40 NTU probably occurs for a total of >40 days each year, and relatively little time is spent at intermediate turbidities (15–50 NTU). The extended time spent at either low or high turbidities is consistent with the biological response of some species of corals to adopt two alternative mechanisms of functioning (autotrophy and heterotrophy) in response to different levels of turbidity. Sedimentation rates over periods of hours may reach the equivalent of 10 000 times the mean global background terrigenous flux (BTF) of sediment to the sea floor, i.e. 10 000 BTF, over three orders of magnitude greater than the Holocene average for Halifax Bay of <3 BTF. As elsewhere along the nearshore zone of the central GBR, dry‐season hydrodynamic conditions form a primary control upon turbidity and the distribution of bed sediments. The location of modern nearshore coral reefs is controlled by the presence of suitable substrates, which in Halifax Bay are Pleistocene and early Holocene coarse‐grained (and relatively stable) alluvial deposits.  相似文献   

10.
We reconstruct SST from coral Sr/Ca ratios measured at three coral cores taken from the lagoon of Tahiti (French Polynesia). Two coral cores were drilled from the same coral colony (one horizontally and one vertically), and a third core was drilled vertically from another coral growing at a different site. We evaluate several Sr/Ca records as proxies for regional SST variations: (1) the three single-core records from Tahiti, (2) an average Sr/Ca record computed from the two cores drilled from the same coral colony, (3) an average Sr/Ca record computed from all three Tahiti cores, and (4) an average Sr/Ca record computed from the three Tahiti cores and a fourth core taken from a different island (Rarotonga). On a monthly scale, the average Sr/Ca record including the four coral cores from Tahiti and Rarotonga shows the best correlation with regional SST. The variance of the SST reconstruction is very realistic and the residual SST is low. This suggests that reconstructing SST from average proxy records gives a better representation of regional SST variations. Of the three Tahiti cores, the one that was drilled horizontally shows the best correlation with grid-SST on an annual mean scale. All three Tahiti corals show much larger interannual SST variations than that indicated by grid-SST.  相似文献   

11.
The geochemistry of coral skeletons may reflect seawater conditions at the time of deposition and the analysis of fossil skeletons offers a method to reconstruct past climate. However the precipitation of cements in the primary coral skeleton during diagenesis may significantly affect bulk skeletal geochemistry. We used secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to measure Sr, Mg, B, U and Ba concentrations in primary coral aragonite and aragonite and calcite cements in fossil Porites corals from submerged reefs around the Hawaiian Islands. Cement and primary coral geochemistry were significantly different in all corals. We estimate the effects of cement inclusion on climate estimates from drilled coral samples, which combine cements and primary coral aragonite. Secondary 1% calcite or ∼2% aragonite cement contamination significantly affects Sr/Ca SST estimates by +1 °C and −0.4 to −0.9 °C, respectively. Cement inclusion also significantly affects Mg/Ca, B/Ca and U/Ca SST estimates in some corals. X-ray diffraction (XRD) will not detect secondary aragonite cements and significant calcite contamination may be below the limit of detection (∼1%) of the technique. Thorough petrographic examination of fossils is therefore essential to confirm that they are pristine before bulk drilled samples are analysed. To confirm that the geochemistry of the original coral structures is not affected by the precipitation of cements in adjacent pore spaces we analysed the primary coral aragonite in cemented and uncemented areas of the skeleton. Sr/Ca, B/Ca and U/Ca of primary coral aragonite is not affected by the presence of cements in adjacent interskeletal pore spaces i.e. the coral structures maintain their original composition and selective SIMS analysis of these structures offers a route to the reconstruction of accurate SSTs from altered coral skeletons. However, Mg/Ca and Ba/Ca of primary coral aragonite are significantly higher in parts of skeletons infilled with high Mg calcite cement. We hypothesise this reflects cement infilling of intraskeletal pore spaces in the primary coral structure.  相似文献   

12.
南海表层沉积物中放射虫多样性与丰度的分布与环境   总被引:3,自引:3,他引:0  
采用定量分析方法, 较系统地探讨了整个南海不同环境表层沉积物中放射虫的分布特征及其环境指示意义.结果显示: 南海表层沉积物中放射虫的种类多样性和个体丰度随着水深而增加, 表明南海较深水处的放射虫壳体溶解现象不明显; 上升流活动和海底火山喷发有利于放射虫的大量繁殖, 产生区域性的沉积富集; 反之, 较深水的陆坡区沉积物中出现放射虫种类与丰度异常减少, 可能属浊流搬运再沉积的结果, 物源来自陆架或上陆坡; 种类组成以热带-亚热带特征为主, 还包含了一定数量的冷水种或极区种, 表明在特定海区的古环境分析中采用单一指标判断可能会造成误解.沉积物中放射虫的综合指标较好地反映了南海的生态与沉积环境特征.   相似文献   

13.
Direct dating of fossil coral reefs using the U-series chronometer provides an important independent test of the Milankovitch orbital forcing theory of climate change. However, well-dated fossil corals pre-dating the last interglacial period (>130 thousand years ago; ka) are scarce due to, (1) a lack of sampling localities, (2) insufficient analytical precision in U-series dating methods, and (3) diagenesis which acts to violate the assumption of closed-system U-series isotopic decay in fossil corals. Here we present 50 new high-precision U-series age determinations for fossil corals from Henderson Island, an emergent coral atoll in the central South Pacific. U-series age determinations associated with the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 interglacial and MIS 7.5 interstadial periods are reported. The fossil corals show relatively little open-system U-series behaviour in comparison to other localities with fossil coral reefs formed prior to the last glacial cycle, however, open-system U-series behaviour is still evident in most of the dated corals. In particular, percent-level shifts in the [230Th/238U]act composition are observed, leading to conventional U-series ages that are significantly younger or older than the true sample age. This open-system U-series behaviour is not accounted for by any of the open-system U-series models, indicating that new models should be derived. The new U-series ages reported here support and extend earlier findings reported in Stirling et al. (2001), providing evidence of prolific coral reef development on Henderson Island at ∼320 ka, most likely correlated with MIS 9.3, and subsequent reef development at ∼307 ka during MIS 9.1, while relative sea-level was potentially ∼20 m lower than during MIS 9.3. The U-series ages for additional well-preserved fossil corals are suggestive of minor reef development on Henderson Island during MIS 7.5 (245-230 ka) at 240.3 ± 0.8 and 234.7 ± 1.3 ka. All U-series observations are consistent with the Milankovitch theory of climate change, in terms of the timing of onset and termination of the dated interglacial and interstadial periods. The best preserved samples also suggest that the oceanic 234U/238U during MIS 9 and MIS 7.5 was within five permil of the modern open ocean composition.  相似文献   

14.
海南岛排浦礁区由珊瑚岸礁和堤礁及其间水域组成。因堤礁的障壁作用和丰富的陆源物质供应,研究区内形成清水和浑水两类沉积环境,产出清水碳酸盐和浑水碳酸盐两列沉积体系,并形成礁源沉积、陆源沉积和混合沉积三类沉积物。文中详细论述了各类沉积的特征,讨论了沉积体系的演化过程:全新世早期是单一的陆源碎屑沉积体系,全新世中期海侵,气温转暖,形成早期排浦岸礁与大铲堤礁的雏型,全新世晚期堤礁进入成熟阶段,其障壁作用加强,最终形成清水与浑水两种沉积环境和两列沉积体系。  相似文献   

15.
五千年来南海海平面变化的研究   总被引:13,自引:0,他引:13  
大型块状滨珊瑚的生长上限充其量只能达到大潮低潮面,礁坪面成为古高海面的极好标志。多数学者认为,5000aB.P.以来南海周边曾有3—6m的高海面。但南海曾否有古高海面有着两种截然相反的意见。作者对南沙群岛、西沙群岛、海南岛、雷州半岛和台湾恒春半岛珊瑚礁的考察,实测礁顶面的高程,钻取岩芯样品做(14)C测年,并收集大量古高海面礁的资料,进一步证实了南海同它的周边情况一样,确实出现过至少比现今高2—3m的高海面。  相似文献   

16.

Mineralogical, petrological and geochemical analyses of corals and associated skeletal limestones taken from three transects across the Late Quaternary raised coral reefs of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, show that tectonic uplift can be related to the degree of subaerial diagenesis of the reefs. Where the uplift rate is high, Pleistocene corals frequently retain their aragonite mineralogy, even though the annual rainfall is relatively high. In contrast, similar age corals from low‐uplift areas are consistently altered neomorphically to calcite. The transformation of reef skeletal limestones shows a similar, but less pronounced, trend to the corals. Chemical analysis shows that the neomorphic calcite crystals of coral skeletons from the low‐uplift areas have relatively higher Sr and Mg concentrations, compared with those in high‐uplift areas. This may indicate that neomorphism of corals in the low‐uplift terraces takes place at a relatively higher rate and an earlier stage than that in the high‐uplift areas. The pattern of diagenesis of the Huon reefs can be explained by the effects of tectonic uplift on the regional hydrological regime. First, lower uplift rates allow a raised reef or any part of it to remain in the meteoric phreatic zone for a relatively long time. Second, river gorge slopes from low‐uplift regions have lower gradients and reef terraces in these areas have more extensive raised lagoon depressions than in high‐uplift areas. Thus, there is less runoff and consequently more extensive vadose percolation in the former areas. Third, the resulting low‐relief topography in low‐uplift areas prompts formation of soils on the terraces, and further increases the ability of interaction between coral reefs and formation water.  相似文献   

17.
The high precision measurement of the Sr/Ca ratio in corals has the potential for measuring past sea surface temperatures at very high accuracy. However, the veracity of the technique has been questioned on the basis that there is both a spatial and temporal variation in the Sr/Ca ratio of seawater, and that kinetic effects, such as the calcification rate, can affect the Sr/Ca ratio of corals, and produce inaccuracies of the order of 2-4 °C. In the present study, a number of cores of the massive hermatypic scleractinian coral Porites, from the central Great Barrier Reef, have been analyzed for Sr/Ca at weekly to monthly resolution. Results from a 24 year record from Myrmidon Reef show an overall variation from 22.7 °C to 30.4 °C. The record shows a warming/cooling trend with maximum warming centred on the 1986-1987 summer. While some bleaching was reported to have occurred at Myrmidon Reef in 1982, the Sr/Ca record indicates that subsequent summer temperatures were much higher. The 4.5 year record from Stanley Reef shows a maximum SST of 30 °C during the 1997-1998 El Niño event. The calibrations from Myrmidon and Stanley Reefs are in excellent agreement with previously published calibrations from nearby reefs. While corals do not calcify in equilibrium with seawater due to physiological control on the uptake of Sr and Ca into the lattice of coralline aragonite, it can be argued that, provided only a single genus such as Porites sp. is used, and that the coral is sampled along a major vertical growth axis, then the Sr/Ca ratio should vary uniformly with temperature. Similarly, objections based on the spatial and temporal variability of the Sr/Ca activity ratio of seawater can be countered on the basis that in most areas where coral reefs grow there is a uniformity in the Sr/Ca activity ratio, and there does not appear to be a change in this ratio over the growth period of the coral. Evidence from several corals in this study suggest that stress can be a major cause of the breakdown in the Sr/Ca-SST relationship. Thermal stress, resulting from either extremely warm or cool temperatures, can produce anomalously low Sr/Ca derived SSTs as a result of the breakdown of the biological control on Sr/Ca fractionation. It is considered that other stresses, such as increased nutrients and changes in light intensity, can also lead to a breakdown in the Sr/Ca-SST relationship. Two of the main issues affecting the reliability of the Sr/Ca method are the calibration of the Sr/Ca ratio with measured SST and the estimation of tropical last glacial maximum (LGM) palaeotemperatures. Instead of producing a constant calibration, just about every one published so far is different from the others. What is obvious is that for most calibrations while the slope of the calibration equation is similar, the intercepts are not. While the cause for this variation is still unknown, it would appear that corals from different localities around the world are responding to their own particular environment or that certain types of environments exert a control on the corals’ physiology. Sr/Ca derived SST estimates for the LGM and deglaciation of 5 °C-6 °C cooler than present are at odds with estimates of 2 °C-3 °C cooling by other climate proxies. The apparent lack of reef growth during the LGM suggests that SSTs were too cold in many parts of the tropics for reefs to develop. This would lend support to the idea that tropical SSTs were much cooler than what the CLIMAP data suggests.  相似文献   

18.

Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs are atoll-like structures that have developed on top of volcanic edifices and are close to the southern environmental limit of reef development in the southwest Pacific. Reef morphology and vertical accretion rates during the Holocene appear similar to those on other more tropical reefs. Sediment samples were collected from the lagoon of both reefs and around the flanks of Middleton Reef. A distinctly chlorozoan assemblage was observed with coral, molluscs, Halimeda, coralline algae and foraminifers being the dominant sediment constituents. Lagoon sediment samples show little variation within or between reefs, lacking the concentric zonation characteristic of larger atolls. Samples collected from the flanks of Middleton Reef, and subsurface material from vibrocores, differ compositionally from the surficial lagoon sand and were typically more tropical in character. A comparison of the sediment constituents from these reefs with those of samples from within a fringing reef and from the shelf around Lord Howe Island, further south, indicated regional patterns in sediment composition. Halimeda rapidly decreased in abundance with increased latitude, and appeared confined to deeper water, whereas coralline red algae increased significantly. The rapid change in these major sediment contributors is coincident with the general decrease in coral growth rates with latitude. This reinforces the notion that the latitudinal limit of reef development is constrained by factors other than coral growth alone.  相似文献   

19.
南海表层沉积物中放射虫的组合特征与海洋环境   总被引:3,自引:2,他引:1  
南海拥有较齐全的边缘海地理地貌与生态环境, 沉积物中保存的放射虫种类繁多, 个体丰富.本文采用数理统计与聚类分析方法, 对表层沉积物中放射虫的组合特征进行了较为详细的定量分析, 以期获得可靠的放射虫组合与分布的特征.聚类分析结果显示, 放射虫组合在南海表层沉积物中的分布大致可区分为5种类型: 陆架浅水区型、陆坡珊瑚礁区型、中央海盆区型、南部富营养区型和夏季上升流区型, 它们分别对应于特有的海洋环境, 并由含有某些优势种类的放射虫群落所组成.进一步分析还表明, 南海的北部、中部和南部分别表现为3个不同生态环境的海区: 北部海区受陆源影响较为明显; 中部海区被中央水团、海底火山活动和夏季上升流活动所控制; 南部海区总体上属于典型的珊瑚礁海洋环境, 生态与沉积环境明显优越于北部海区.南海表层沉积物中放射虫的组合分布特征较好地响应和反映了所在海区的生态环境与沉积条件, 是探讨古海洋环境的重要依据.   相似文献   

20.
Cold‐water coral ecosystems present common carbonate factories along the Atlantic continental margins, where they can form large reef structures. There is increasing knowledge on their ecology, molecular genetics, environmental controls and threats available. However, information on their carbo‐nate production and accumulation is still very limited, even though this information is essential for their evaluation as carbonate sinks. The aim of this study is to provide high‐resolution reef aggradation and carbonate accumulation rates for Norwegian cold‐water coral reefs from various settings (sunds, inner shelf and shelf margin). Furthermore, it introduces a new approach for the evaluation of the cold‐water coral preservation within cold‐water coral deposits by computed tomography analysis. This approach allows the differentiation of various kinds of cold‐water coral deposits by their macrofossil clast size and orientation signature. The obtained results suggest that preservation of cold‐water coral frameworks in living position is favoured by high reef aggradation rates, while preservation of coral rubble prevails by moderate aggradation rates. A high degree of macrofossil fragmentation indicates condensed intervals or unconformities. The observed aggradation rates with up to 1500 cm kyr?1 exhibit the highest rates from cold‐water coral reefs so far. Reef aggradation within the studied cores was restricted to the Early and Late Holocene. Available datings of Norwegian cold‐water corals support this age pattern for other fjords while, on the shelf, cold‐water coral ages are reported additionally from the early Middle Holocene. The obtained mean carbonate accumulation rates of up to 103 g cm?2 kyr?1 exceed previous estimates of cold‐water coral reefs by a factor of two to three and by almost one order of magnitude to adjacent sedimentary environments (shelf, slope and deep sea). Only fjord basins locally exhibit carbonate accumulation rates in the range of the cold‐water coral reefs. Furthermore, cold‐water coral reef carbonate accumulation rates are in the range of tropical reef carbonate accumulation rates. These results clearly suggest the importance of cold‐water coral reefs as local, maybe regional to global, carbonate sinks.  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号