Is the Mediterranean Sean Outflow conditioning cold water corals in the North Atlantic?

• Main Authors: Fajar, Noelia, Álvarez, Marta, Santiago, Rocío, Aparicio-González, Alberto
• Format: Still Image
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Mediterranea Sea Outflow; Centro Oceanográfico de A Coruña; Pesquerías; cold water corals; North Atlantic; MEDWAVES; ATLAS project; water masses; outflow; resolution; fauna; seamounts; corals; continental shelf; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; Sarmiento; Stepping Stones
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/11312; http://hdl.handle.net/10261/322466

poster Within the context of the UE project ATLAS, in September - October 2016 on board RV Sarmiento de Gamboa, the MEDWAVES (MEDiterranean out flow WAter and Vulnerable EcosystemS) targeted areas under the potential influence of the MOW (Mediterranean Water Outflow) within the Mediterranean and Atlantic realms. These include seamounts where cold-water corals (CWC) have been reported, they may act as essential “stepping stones” connecting fauna of seamounts in the Mediterranean with those of seamounts in the continental shelf of Portugal, the Azores and the Mid‐ Atlantic Ridge. During MEDWAVES sampling was conducted through several seamounts: Formigas (Azores), Ormonde & Gazul (North Atlantic) and Seco de los Olivos (Alboran Sea). High quality CO2 measurements were conducted in the 500 meters above the bottom in order to characterize the water masses and detect the MOW spreading. MOW is warm and salty, but also high in alkalinity and pH. Is MOW conditioning CWC?