Coral mound development at the Campeche cold-water coral province, southern Gulf of Mexico: implications of Antarctic Intermediate Water increased influence during interglacials
Coral mounds formed by framework-forming scleractinian cold-water corals (CWC; mainly Lophelia pertusa) are a common seabed feature along the Atlantic continental margins. While coral mound areas in the NE Atlantic reveal a climate-dependent temporal pattern of CWC occurrence and mound aggradation t...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
15 August 2017
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| In: |
Marine geology
Year: 2017, Volume: 392, Pages: 53-65 |
| ISSN: | 1872-6151 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012 Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322716303784 
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| Author Notes: | Lélia Matos, Claudia Wienberg, Jürgen Titschack, Gerhard Schmiedl, Norbert Frank, Fatima Abrantes, Marina R. Cunha, Dierk Hebbeln |
| Summary: | Coral mounds formed by framework-forming scleractinian cold-water corals (CWC; mainly Lophelia pertusa) are a common seabed feature along the Atlantic continental margins. While coral mound areas in the NE Atlantic reveal a climate-dependent temporal pattern of CWC occurrence and mound aggradation that is related to distinct environmental conditions (e.g., productivity, water mass properties, hydrodynamics), the long-term development of CWC and coral mounds at the western side of the Atlantic is less well documented and understood. Here, we present a 260-kyr coral record from the recently described Campeche CWC province in the southern Gulf of Mexico, combined with a reconstruction of the paleo-environmental conditions for the last 140kyr. Uranium-series dating of 26 coral samples reveals that CWC growth predominantly coincided with interglacial periods. Highest vertical mound aggradation rates of 34 to 40cmkyr−1 occurred during the Holocene. The reduced occurrence of CWC and the concurrent almost complete stagnation in mound aggradation during glacial periods could be linked to a diminished presence of Antarctic Intermediate Water at those intermediate depths in which the coral mounds occur. Such setting would have caused a less dynamic bottom current regime resulting in a reduced food supply to the CWC along the Campeche Bank. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 14.02.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1872-6151 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012 |