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Variability of cold-water coral mounds in a high sediment input and tidal current regime, Straits ofFlorida

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Date Issued:
2012
Title: Variability of cold-water coral mounds in a high sediment input and tidal current regime, Straits ofFlorida.
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Name(s): Correa, T.B.S.
Grasmueck, M.
Eberli, G.P.
Reed, John K.
Verwer, K.
Purkis, S.
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Date Issued: 2012
Publisher: Wiley
Place of Publication: Hoboken, NJ
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 28 p.
Language(s): English
Identifier: FA00007166 (IID), 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01306.x (doi)
Note(s): Cold-water coral mound morphology and development are thought to be controlled primarily by current regime. This study, however, reveals a general lack of correlation between prevailing bottom current direction and mound morphology (i.e. footprint shape and orientation), as well as current strength and mound size (i.e. footprint area and height). These findings are based on quantitative analyses of a high-resolution geophysical dataset collected with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle from three cold-water coralmound sites at the toe of slope of Great Bahama Bank. The three sites (80 km2 total) have an average of 14 mounds km)2, indicating that the Great Bahama Bank slope is a major coral mound region. At all three sites living coral colonies are observed on the surface of the mounds, documenting active mound growth. Morphometric analysis shows that mounds at these sites vary significantly in height (1 to 83 m), area (81 to 6 00 000 m2), shape (mound aspect ratio 0Æ1 to 1) and orientation (mound longest axis 0 to 180 ). The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle measured bottom current data depict a north–south flowing current that reverses approximately every six hours. The tidal nature of this current and its intermittent deviations during reversals are interpreted to contribute to the observed moundcomplexity.
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 1845
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available and may be cited as: Correa, T.B.S., Grasmueck, M., Eberli, G.P., Reed J.K., Verwer, K., & Purkis S. (2011). Variability of cold-water coral mounds in a high sediment input and tidal current regime, Straits of Florida. Sedimentology, 59(4), 1278-1304.
Subject(s): Florida, Straits of
Cold-water corals
Deep sea corals
Submersibles--Automatic control
Underwater vehicles
Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas)
Morphology
Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01306.x
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007166
Host Institution: FAU