First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin
International audience The West African continental slope is an important theatre for geological survey prospecting and drilling for hydrocarbons but little is known about local deep-sea biological communities at these depths. While shallow-water reefs are common and well-known features in the tropi...
Published in: | Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00450240 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 |
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ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:hal-00450240v1 2024-09-15T18:18:02+00:00 First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin Le Guilloux, E. Olu, K. F. Bourillet, J. Savoye, B. Iglésias, Samuel, Paco Sibuet, Myriam Laboratoire Environnement Profond (LEP) Etudes des Ecosystèmes Profonds (EEP) Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) Unité Géosciences Marines (GM) Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) Station de Biologie Marine de Concarneau Direction générale déléguée à la Recherche, à l’Expertise, à la Valorisation et à l’Enseignement-Formation (DGD.REVE) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2009 https://hal.science/hal-00450240 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 hal-00450240 https://hal.science/hal-00450240 doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 ISSN: 0967-0645 Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography https://hal.science/hal-00450240 Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2009, 56 (23), pp.2394-2403. ⟨10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014⟩ Angola margin Deep-sea corals Lophelia pertusa ROV Habitat mapping Lucinids [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2009 ftsorbonneuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 2024-07-25T23:47:37Z International audience The West African continental slope is an important theatre for geological survey prospecting and drilling for hydrocarbons but little is known about local deep-sea biological communities at these depths. While shallow-water reefs are common and well-known features in the tropics, only few records of deep-water corals exist at low latitudes, and most of them have been reported by historical oceanographic cruises undertaking circum-navigations of the world. This study, based on a multi-disciplinary approach, presents a description of newly discovered deep-water coral reef communities along the Angola margin. Data from ROV, multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar and seismics from a deep-towed acoustic system (SAR) were used to describe the morphology of the coral mounds and their relationship with the local geological setting. The reef-building scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa has colonised carbonate mounds that reach heights of ca. 30 in and follow an orientation that is correlated with salt tectonic processes. Recent erosion is suggested as a process that influences the shape of the mounds. Sixteen fish taxa were identified during the ROV video surveys, with some of them likely to have a strong affinity with dense-living corals. The species observed belong to families commonly associated with deep-water corals (i.e. Sebastidae, Berycidae, Lophiidae and Chaunacidae), except an abundant species belonging to the family Zoarcidae, rarely observed in this type of environment. Lucinidae shells were found around mounds. As this bivalve family is indicative of reduced sediment and generally associated with cold-seep environments, this finding could revive the debate over the relationship between the distribution of cold-water coral habitat and gas seeps. However, there is no present-day nutritional relationship between living coral and chemosynthetic-derived biomass. The possible role of fluid expulsion in carbonate precipitation acting as the first step for coral colonisation is nevertheless ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Lophelia pertusa HAL Sorbonne Université Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 56 23 2394 2403 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL Sorbonne Université |
op_collection_id |
ftsorbonneuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Angola margin Deep-sea corals Lophelia pertusa ROV Habitat mapping Lucinids [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment |
spellingShingle |
Angola margin Deep-sea corals Lophelia pertusa ROV Habitat mapping Lucinids [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment Le Guilloux, E. Olu, K. F. Bourillet, J. Savoye, B. Iglésias, Samuel, Paco Sibuet, Myriam First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
topic_facet |
Angola margin Deep-sea corals Lophelia pertusa ROV Habitat mapping Lucinids [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment |
description |
International audience The West African continental slope is an important theatre for geological survey prospecting and drilling for hydrocarbons but little is known about local deep-sea biological communities at these depths. While shallow-water reefs are common and well-known features in the tropics, only few records of deep-water corals exist at low latitudes, and most of them have been reported by historical oceanographic cruises undertaking circum-navigations of the world. This study, based on a multi-disciplinary approach, presents a description of newly discovered deep-water coral reef communities along the Angola margin. Data from ROV, multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar and seismics from a deep-towed acoustic system (SAR) were used to describe the morphology of the coral mounds and their relationship with the local geological setting. The reef-building scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa has colonised carbonate mounds that reach heights of ca. 30 in and follow an orientation that is correlated with salt tectonic processes. Recent erosion is suggested as a process that influences the shape of the mounds. Sixteen fish taxa were identified during the ROV video surveys, with some of them likely to have a strong affinity with dense-living corals. The species observed belong to families commonly associated with deep-water corals (i.e. Sebastidae, Berycidae, Lophiidae and Chaunacidae), except an abundant species belonging to the family Zoarcidae, rarely observed in this type of environment. Lucinidae shells were found around mounds. As this bivalve family is indicative of reduced sediment and generally associated with cold-seep environments, this finding could revive the debate over the relationship between the distribution of cold-water coral habitat and gas seeps. However, there is no present-day nutritional relationship between living coral and chemosynthetic-derived biomass. The possible role of fluid expulsion in carbonate precipitation acting as the first step for coral colonisation is nevertheless ... |
author2 |
Laboratoire Environnement Profond (LEP) Etudes des Ecosystèmes Profonds (EEP) Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) Unité Géosciences Marines (GM) Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) Station de Biologie Marine de Concarneau Direction générale déléguée à la Recherche, à l’Expertise, à la Valorisation et à l’Enseignement-Formation (DGD.REVE) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA) Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Le Guilloux, E. Olu, K. F. Bourillet, J. Savoye, B. Iglésias, Samuel, Paco Sibuet, Myriam |
author_facet |
Le Guilloux, E. Olu, K. F. Bourillet, J. Savoye, B. Iglésias, Samuel, Paco Sibuet, Myriam |
author_sort |
Le Guilloux, E. |
title |
First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
title_short |
First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
title_full |
First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
title_fullStr |
First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
title_full_unstemmed |
First observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the Angola margin |
title_sort |
first observations of deep-sea coral reefs along the angola margin |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00450240 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 |
genre |
Lophelia pertusa |
genre_facet |
Lophelia pertusa |
op_source |
ISSN: 0967-0645 Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography https://hal.science/hal-00450240 Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2009, 56 (23), pp.2394-2403. ⟨10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 hal-00450240 https://hal.science/hal-00450240 doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.04.014 |
container_title |
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography |
container_volume |
56 |
container_issue |
23 |
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2394 |
op_container_end_page |
2403 |
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