Franken Mound: facies and biocoenoses on a newly-discovered “carbonate mound” on the western Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

Wienberg, Claudia; Beuck, Lydia; Heidkamp, Sebastian; Hebbeln, Dierk; Freiwald, André; Pfannkuche, Olaf; Monteys, Xavier

doi:10.1007/s10347-007-0118-0

Cited by 61 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The presence of dispersed hard substratum has allowed colonization by the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (Wilson 1979a,b, Rogers 1999. A high diversity of organisms has been reported associated with L. pertusa patches (Jen sen & Frederiksen 1992, Wienberg et al 2008 but there has been little investigation of the fauna of the softer sediments (Wilson & Desmond 1986). In 2007, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission established a Fisheries Closure on the northwestern flank of Rockall Bank.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Association of suspension feeders (i.e. actiniarians, hydroids, hexactinellids and demosponges as well as crinoids and brisingiids) with Lophelia pertusa has been de scribed for the Franken Mound area on western Rockall Bank (Wienberg et al 2008) and the nearby, though deeper Rockall Trough (Masson et al . Difference in residuals between (A) the 5 imagery transects and (B) the seabed facies, after filtering out the spatial structure of the Shannon diversity indices (H ') using significant principal coordinates of neighbour matrices.…”

Section: Megafaunal Distribution and Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Megafaunal distribution and biodiversity in a heterogeneous landscape: the iceberg-scoured Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

Robert

Jones²,

Huvenne³

2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Species distributions are influenced by spatial structure in environmental factors, but the scales at which these dependencies occur and the effect of habitat patch diversity, connectivity and spatial arrangement have rarely been investigated in deep-sea settings. In this study, spatially limited photographic transects collected from Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic, were combined with sidescan and multibeam sonar maps to model spatial patterns in species distribution and biodiversity. Sediment interpretation maps were created and canonical ordination techniques were used to examine relationships between fine-scale sediment characteristics extracted from the digital stills as well as landscape metrics describing the patch mosaic structure of the surrounding areas. Fine-scale sediment characteristics explained 45.1 and 63.8% of the variation in species composition and biodiversity, respectively. This survey effectively captured variation in species distribution resulting from iceberg ploughmarks, occurring at a scale of < 50 m -which would normally go undetected by traditional ship-based studies. Our study suggests that fine-scale environmental information is required to capture the spatial heterogeneity of complex seafloor areas in sufficient detail to model species distributions and biodiversity.

show abstract

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Megafaunal Distribution and Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Megafaunal distribution and biodiversity in a heterogeneous landscape: the iceberg-scoured Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

Robert

Jones²,

Huvenne³

2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, we focused primarily on seabed classes and substrate types (Dolan et al, 2008;Wienberg et al, 2008). In addition, we interpret proxies for light conditions (i.e.…”

Section: Benthic Habitats and Environmental Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of the geomorphological and sedimentological settings on the distribution of epibenthic assemblages on a flat topped hill on the over-deepened shelf of the western Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean)

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Epibenthos communities play an important role in the marine ecosystems of the Weddell Sea. Information on the factors controlling their structure and distribution are, however, still rare. In particular, the interactions between environmental factors and biotic assemblages are not fully understood. Nachtigaller Hill, a newly discovered seabed structure on the over-deepened shelf of the northwest Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean), offers a unique site to study these interactions in a high-latitude Antarctic setting. Based on highresolution bathymetry and georeferenced biological data, the effect of the terrain and related environmental parameters on the epibenthos was assessed. At Nachtigaller Hill, both geomorphological and biological data showed complex distribution patterns, reflecting local processes such as iceberg scouring and locally amplified bottom currents. This variability was also generally reflected in the variable epibenthos distribution patterns although statistical analyses did not show strong correlations between the selected environmental parameters and species abundances. By analysing the interactions between environmental and biological patterns, this study provides crucial information towards a better understanding of the factors and processes that drive epibenthos communities on the shelves of the Weddell Sea and probably also on other Antarctic shelves.

show abstract

“…This stimulated intensive mapping and further geological investigations (summarised by Wheeler et al 2007). There is now evidence for several carbonate mound provinces in the north east Atlantic from (1) south west Ireland: the Hovland (Hovland et al 1994;De Mol et al 2002), Magellan and Belgica provinces (De Mol et al 2002;Van Rooij et al 2003), (2) southern Rockall Bank: Logachev Mounds van Weering et al 2003), (3) western Rockall Bank (Wienberg et al 2008) and (4) generations of coral reef development that leads to coral-built carbonate mounds (Roberts et al 2006). Studies of the stable isotopic composition of coral skeleton and tissue have not supported a seep-based food chain (Duineveld et al 2004) and analyses of lipid biomarkers and stable nitrogen isotopes of Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata point to a diet derived from primary productivity at the surface (Kiriakoulakis et al 2005).…”

Section: Geological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold-water coral reef frameworks, megafaunal communities and evidence for coral carbonate mounds on the Hatton Bank, north east Atlantic

Roberts

Henry

Long

et al. 2008

Facies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Offshore banks and seamounts sustain diverse megafaunal communities including framework reefs formed by cold-water corals. Few studies have quantified environmental effects on the alpha or beta diversity of these communities. We adopted an interdisciplinary approach that used historical geophysical data to identify topographic highs on Hatton Bank, which were surveyed visually. The resulting photographic data were used to examine relationships between megafaunal communities and macrohabitat, the latter defined into six categories (mud, sand, cobbles, coral rubble, coral framework, rock). The survey stations revealed considerable small-scale variability in macrohabitat from exposed Late Palaeocene lava flows to quiescent muddy habitats and coral-built carbonate mounds. The first reported evidence for coral carbonate mound development in UK waters is presented, which was most pronounced near present day or former sites of topographic change suggesting that local current acceleration favoured coral framework growth and mound initiation.Alpha diversity varied significantly across macrohabitats, but not between rock and coral rubble, or between smaller-grain sized categories of cobbles, sand and mud. Community composition differed between most macrohabitats, and variation in beta diversity across Hatton Bank was largely explained by fine-scale substratum. Certain megafauna were clearly associated with particular macrohabitats, with stylasterid corals notably associated with cobble and rock habitats and coral habitats characterised by a diverse community of suspension-feeders. The visual surveys also produced novel images of deep-water megafauna including a new photographic record of the gorgonian coral Paragorgia arborea, a species not previously reported from Rockall Plateau.Further interdisciplinary studies are needed to interpret beta diversity across these and other environmental gradients on Hatton Bank. It is clear that efforts are also needed to improve our understanding of the genetic connectivity and biogeography of vulnerable deep-water ecosystems and to develop predictive models of their occurrence that can help inform future conservation measures.

show abstract

Franken Mound: facies and biocoenoses on a newly-discovered “carbonate mound” on the western Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

Cited by 61 publications

References 66 publications

Megafaunal distribution and biodiversity in a heterogeneous landscape: the iceberg-scoured Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

Megafaunal distribution and biodiversity in a heterogeneous landscape: the iceberg-scoured Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic

The influence of the geomorphological and sedimentological settings on the distribution of epibenthic assemblages on a flat topped hill on the over-deepened shelf of the western Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean)

Cold-water coral reef frameworks, megafaunal communities and evidence for coral carbonate mounds on the Hatton Bank, north east Atlantic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About