Environmental forcing of the Campeche cold-water coral province, southern Gulf of Mexico
Environmental forcing of the Campeche cold-water coral province, southern Gulf of Mexico
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DOI：
10.5194/bg-11-1799-2014
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发表时间：
2014-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Taviani, M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hebbeln, D.;Wienberg, C.;Taviani, M.
最近发现的坎佩切冷水珊瑚区位于墨西哥湾南部坎佩切河岸东北边缘，面积超过40公里（2），是迄今为止发现的最大的连贯冷水珊瑚区。坎佩切省由许多20- 40米高的细长珊瑚土丘组成，这些珊瑚丘在500至600米的中间水深中发育。土丘是殖民地由一个生动的冷水珊瑚生态系统，覆盖了上侧翼和首脑会议。丰富的珊瑚群落主要由建造框架的Scleractinia Enallopsammia profunda和Lophelia pertusa组成，而相关的底栖巨型动物则相当稀少。最近的环境设置的特点是由当地的上升流中心和动态的底层水制度，包括有力的底层电流，明显的时间变化，和强烈的密度对比，这一切都提供了最佳的条件冷水珊瑚的生长所造成的高地表水生产。这种设置-可能支持的昼夜垂直迁移的浮游动物在坎佩切地区-控制提供食物颗粒的珊瑚。因此，坎佩切冷水珊瑚省是一个极好的例子，突出了海洋环境在确保食物供应以发展大型和生动的冷水珊瑚生态系统方面的重要性。
With an extension of >40 km(2) the recently discovered Campeche cold-water coral province located at the northeastern rim of the Campeche Bank in the southern Gulf of Mexico belongs to the largest coherent cold-water coral areas discovered so far. The Campeche province consists of numerous 20-40m-high elongated coral mounds that are developed in intermediate water depths of 500 to 600 m. The mounds are colonized by a vivid cold-water coral ecosystem that covers the upper flanks and summits. The rich coral community is dominated by the framework-building Scleractinia Enallopsammia profunda and Lophelia pertusa, while the associated benthic megafauna shows a rather scarce occurrence. The recent environmental setting is characterized by a high surface water production caused by a local upwelling center and a dynamic bottom-water regime comprising vigorous bottom currents, obvious temporal variability, and strong density contrasts, which all together provide optimal conditions for the growth of cold-water corals. This setting - potentially supported by the diel vertical migration of zooplankton in the Campeche area - controls the delivering of food particles to the corals. The Campeche cold-water coral province is, thus, an excellent example highlighting the importance of the oceanographic setting in securing the food supply for the development of large and vivid cold-water coral ecosystems.