Thérèse Mound: a case study of coral bank development in the Belgica Mound Province,Porcupine Seabight |
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| Authors: | Ben De Mol Max Kozachenko Andy Wheeler Hugo Alvares Jean-Pierre Henriet Karine Olu-Le Roy |
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| Institution: | (1) Renard Centre of Marine Geology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan, 281 S8, 9000 Gent, Belgium;(2) GRC Geociències Marines, Universitat de Barcelona, Campus de Pedralbes, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;(3) Coastal& Marine Resources Centre, Environment Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland;(4) Department of Geology and Environment Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland;(5) School of Ocean Sciences, University of North Wales, Bangor, Wales, UK;(6) Département Environnement Profond, IFREMER, Technopole de Brest-Iroise, BP 70, 29280 Plouzane, France |
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| Abstract: | High-resolution seismic profiles, swath bathymetry, side-scan sonar data and video imageries are analysed in this detailed
study of five carbonate mounds from the Belgica mound province with special emphasis on the well-surveyed Thérèse Mound. The
selected mounds are located in the deepest part of the Belgica mound province at water depths of 950 m. Seismic data illustrate
that the underlying geology is characterised by drift sedimentation in a general northerly flowing current regime. Sigmoidal
sediment bodies create local slope breaks on the most recent local erosional surface, which act as the mound base. No preferential
mound substratum is observed, neither is there any indication for deep geological controls on coral bank development. Seismic
evidence suggests that the start-up of the coral bank development was shortly after a major erosional event of Late Pliocene–Quaternary
age. The coral bank geometry has been clearly affected by the local topography of this erosional base and the prevailing current
regime. The summits of the coral banks are relatively flat and the flanks are steepest on their upper slopes. Deposition of
the encased drift sequence has been influenced by the coral bank topography. Sediment waves are formed besides the coral banks
and are the most pronounced bedforms. These seabed structures are probably induced by bottom current up to 1 m/s. Large sediment
waves are colonised by living corals and might represent the initial phase of coral bank development. The biological facies
distribution of the coral banks illustrate a living coral cap on the summit and upper slope and a decline of living coral
populations toward the lower flanks. The data suggest that the development of the coral banks in this area is clearly an interaction
between biological growth processes and drift deposition both influenced by the local topography and current regime. |
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| Keywords: | Thérèse Mound Belgica mound province coral banks Porcupine Seabight Lophelia pertusa Cold-water corals Carbonate mounds |
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