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The seabed appearance of different coral bank provinces in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: results from sidescan sonar and ROV seabed mapping
Huvenne, V.A.I.; Beyer, A.; de Haas, H.; Dekindt, K.; Henriet, J.-P.; Kozachenko, M.; Olu-Le Roy, K.; Wheeler, A.J.; TOBI/Pelagia 197; CARACOLE cruise participants (2005). The seabed appearance of different coral bank provinces in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: results from sidescan sonar and ROV seabed mapping, in: Freiwald, A. et al. (Ed.) Cold-water corals and ecosystems. Erlangen Earth Conference Series, : pp. 535-569
In: Freiwald, A.; Roberts, J.M. (Ed.) (2005). Cold-water corals and ecosystems. Erlangen Earth Conference Series. Springer: Berlin. ISBN 3-540-24136. XXXII, 1243 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27673-4
In: Freiwald, A. (Ed.) Erlangen Earth Conference Series. Springer: Berling.
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 215100 [ download pdf ]
Keywords
    Animal products > Coral
    Equipment > Remote sensing equipment > Sonar > Active sonar > Side scan sonar
    Water > Deep water
    ANE, Porcupine Seabight [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Deep-water corals; seabed facies mapping; sedimentary bedforms; Porcupine Seabight; ROV; sidescan sonar
Authors  Top 
  • Huvenne, V.A.I.
  • Beyer, A.
  • de Haas, H.
  • Dekindt, K.
  • Henriet, J.-P.
  • Kozachenko, M.
  • Olu-Le Roy, K.
  • Wheeler, A.J.
  • TOBI/Pelagia 197
  • CARACOLE cruise participants
Abstract
    Carbonate mounds, identified as deep-water coral banks, have been reported recently from three provinces in the Porcupine Seabight, SW of Ireland. As yet, the mechanisms behind their formation and development are only partly understood. This contribution discusses their seabed appearance and present-day sedimentary environment, based on a large-scale TOBI sidescan sonar mapping carried out in 2002, and on detailed ROV video records from specific sites within the three mound provinces, collected in 2001. The study of the present-day characteristics and variability of these mounds can help to understand their development history in the past. The imagery clearly shows that the sedimentary environment in the Magellan and Hovland Mound provinces in the northern Porcupine Seabight is much quieter than in the current-swept Belgica Mound province on the eastern flank of the basin. In the latter area, for example, gravel lags and coarse sediments are found, together with patches of sorted sands, striations, barchan dunes and sediment waves. The difference in environment results in different mound appearances. The richest coral communities with the most abundant live coral occurrences are found in the Belgica province, while for example on the Magellan Mounds only a few live coral colonies are left. The present-day situation of the coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight thus illustrates the influence of the interplay between current and sediment dynamics on coral growth and mound development.
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