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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Hauptverfasser: Matos, Lélia (VerfasserIn) , Frank, Norbert (VerfasserIn)
Dokumenttyp: Article (Journal)
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 15 August 2017
In: Marine geology
Year: 2017, Jahrgang: 392, Pages: 53-65
ISSN:1872-6151
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012
Online-Zugang:Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012
Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322716303784
Volltext
Verfasserangaben:Lélia Matos, Claudia Wienberg, Jürgen Titschack, Gerhard Schmiedl, Norbert Frank, Fatima Abrantes, Marina R. Cunha, Dierk Hebbeln
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung: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.
Beschreibung:Gesehen am 14.02.2018
Beschreibung:Online Resource
ISSN:1872-6151
DOI:10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.012