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Biological and geological processes at the shelf edge investigated with submersibles

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Date Issued:
1987
Title: Biological and geological processes at the shelf edge investigated with submersibles.
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Name(s): Reed, John K.
Hoskin, Charles M.
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Article
Date Issued: 1987
Publisher: NOAA
Place of Publication: Washington, DC
Physical Form: pdf
Extent: 11 p.
Language(s): English
Identifier: FA00007289 (IID)
Note(s): Studies of living reefs along the shelf edge off easternFlorida and the Bahamas suggest the interrelation of physical,biological, and geological processes. JOHNSON-SEA-LINKsubmersibles were used to sample corals and sediment with amanipulator or by lock-out diving. Videotape and 35 mm cameras,CTD system, and transmissometer were used to document the dives.Sediment traps, light meters, time-lapse camera, thermographs, andcurrent meters were deployed and recovered. A 222 km long reefsystem of discontinuous pinnacles capped with living and deadOculina coral was studied off Florida. Upwelling may contribute togrowth and community structure of the reef system. Growth rates ofthe coral averaged 1.6 cmjyr and the coral harbors diverse faunalassemblages. Each pinnacle produces carbonate sediment and trapsmud sized particles. Sand and gravel particles are not transportedfar from the reefs. On the margin of Little Bahama Bank sedimenttraps were also deployed to study sediment transport through reefnotches from shallow to deep water. Average sediment flux over theedge of the wall was 1.34 kg notch-1 yr-1.Studies of living reefs along the shelf edge off easternFlorida and the Bahamas suggest the interrelation of physical,biological, and geological processes. JOHNSON-SEA-LINKsubmersibles were used to sample corals and sediment with amanipulator or by lock-out diving. Videotape and 35 mm cameras,CTD system, and transmissometer were used to document the dives.Sediment traps, light meters, time-lapse camera, thermographs, andcurrent meters were deployed and recovered. A 222 km long reefsystem of discontinuous pinnacles capped with living and deadOculina coral was studied off Florida. Upwelling may contribute togrowth and community structure of the reef system. Growth rates ofthe coral averaged 1.6 cmjyr and the coral harbors diverse faunalassemblages. Each pinnacle produces carbonate sediment and trapsmud sized particles. Sand and gravel particles are not transportedfar from the reefs. On the margin of Little Bahama Bank sedimenttraps were also deployed to study sediment transport through reefnotches from shallow to deep water. Average sediment flux over theedge of the wall was 1.34 kg notch-1 yr-1.
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 395
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available and may be cited as: Reed, J. K., & Hoskin, C. M. (1987). Biological and geological processes at the shelf edge investigated with submersibles. In R. A. Cooper & A. N. Shepard (Eds.), Results of a symposium sponsored by the National Undersea Research Program, University of Connecticut at Avery Point, Groton, Connecticut, May 1984 (pp. 191-199). Washington, DC: NOAA.
Subject(s): Continental shelf--United States
Submersibles
Geology
Biological Processes
Oculinidae
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007289
Host Institution: FAU