Morphology and environment of cold-water coral carbonate mounds on the NW European margin

Abstract

Cold-water coral carbonate mounds, owing their presence mainly to the framework building coral Lophelia pertusa and the activity of associated organisms, are common along the European margin with their spatial distribution allowing them to be divided into a number of mound provinces. Variation in mound attributes are explored via a series of case studies on mound provinces that have been the most intensely investigated: Belgica, Hovland, Pelagia, Logachev and Norwegian Mounds. Morphological variation between mound provinces is discussed under the premise that mound morphology is an expression of the environmental conditions under which mounds are initiated and grow. Cold-water coral carbonate mounds can be divided into those exhibiting ''inherited'' morphologies (where mound morphology reflects the morphology of the colonised features) and ''developed'' morphology (where the mounds assume their own gross morphology mainly reflecting dominant hydrodynamic controls). Finer-scale, surface morphological features mainly reflecting biological growth forms are also discussed.

The Holocene occurrence of cold water corals in the NE Atlantic: Implications for coral carbonate mound evolution

“…Both mounds are part of two mound clusters on the margin of Rockall Bank close to each other (van Rooji et al, 2001). These mounds, part of the Logachev mound province (Mienis et al, 2009;Wheeler et al, 2007) (Fig. 1a), reflect a flourishing coral ecosystem with abundant associated fauna.…”

“…Since about a decade these deep-water coral reefs are subject to extensive European research efforts to better constrain ecosystem functioning and coral reef development (Henriet et al, 1998;Hovland et al, 1998;de Mol et al, 2002;Dorschel et al, 2005;Freiwald and Roberts, 2005;White et al, 2005;Roberts et al, 2006;van Rooij et al, 2006;Dorschel et al, 2007;Mienis et al, 2007;Wheeler et al, 2007). These mounds can achieve a height of several hundred meters and measure several square kilometres at the base (Hovland et al, 1994;de Mol et al, 2002;Huvenne et al, 2003;Kenyon et al, 2003;van Weering et al, 2003).…”

The Dangeard and Explorer canyons, South Western Approaches UK: Geology, sedimentology and newly discovered cold-water coral mini-mounds

“…Canyons are known to support cold-water corals (CWC) , Morris et al, 2013and Orejas et al, 2009, while CWC mounds, formed by framework building scleractinian corals such as Lophelia pertusa, are common along the north-western European margin and occur in distinct regions on the Celtic Margin and Porcupine Seabight (Wheeler et al, 2007). Within the Porcupine Seabight numerous mound provinces exist, in which mounds vary in size up to giant mounds of up to 160 m high and up to 5 km in length: Hovland mounds, Magellan mounds and the Belgica mounds ( De Mol et al, 2002, Hovland et al, 1994, Huvenne et al, 2009a, Van Rooij et al, 2009and Wheeler et al, 2007.…”

“…Within the Porcupine Seabight numerous mound provinces exist, in which mounds vary in size up to giant mounds of up to 160 m high and up to 5 km in length: Hovland mounds, Magellan mounds and the Belgica mounds ( De Mol et al, 2002, Hovland et al, 1994, Huvenne et al, 2009a, Van Rooij et al, 2009and Wheeler et al, 2007. The process of accretion of these large mounds is not well understood although coring through the Challenger Mound by IODP Expedition 307 revealed gradual reef stacking over the course of 2.6 Ma.…”

Carbonate mounds: From paradox to World Heritage

“…They range in general between 30 and 250 m in height and sometimes coalesce to complex ridges (Henriet et al, 1998;De Mol et al, 2002;Huvenne et al, 2003;Wheeler et al, 2007). The surface mounds are commonly covered by thriving cold-water coral ecosystems rivaling in color and luxuriance anything tropical reefs can offer.…”