Forcing of carbonate mounds and deep water coral reefs along the NW European continental margin

最近在东北大西洋大陆边缘（豪猪湾和豪猪滩北部，罗卡尔海槽边缘东南部和西南部，挪威边缘）发现了覆盖着冷珊瑚的碳酸盐丘和相关的底栖生物群落，以及在加的斯湾周围大陆边缘发现了活跃的喷发泥火山地区，这些地区与自生碳酸盐地壳形成、深水礁状珊瑚堆积和碳酸盐烟囱边缘有关。加利西亚海岸以及新发现的化石和最近在地中海发现的珊瑚礁结构，提出了它们的起源和发展的问题。因此，拟议研究的一个主要目的是确定碳酸盐丘形成的强迫条件，并检验冷渗漏与碳酸盐丘的发展、冷水底栖生物群落和自生碳酸盐形成之间可能存在联系的假设。该提案进一步旨在定义迫使碳酸盐岩丘发育的地质、地球化学和海洋学条件和过程，并在大西洋东北部和地中海的对比区域建立碳酸盐岩丘和冷水珊瑚礁形成的底生物生态和环境条件。第三个目标是建立控制碳酸盐丘的岩化和稳定的因素，并将其作为化石碳酸盐堆积的现代类似物。比较最近和过去的土丘强迫条件，可以根据构造、沉积学、海洋学和现存生物条件发展出土丘成因模式。

Recent discoveries of carbonate mounds covered with cold water corals and related benthic communities along the NE Atlantic Ocean continental margin (Porcupine Bight and north of Porcupine Bank, southeast and southwest Rockall Trough Margin, Norwegian Margin) and of actively venting mud volcanic areas along the continental margin surrounding the Gulf of Cadiz associated with authigenic carbonate crust formation and deep-water reef-like coral build-ups and carbonate chimneys margin, Galicia Bank as well as new discoveries of fossil and recent reef structures in the Mediterranean, raises the question of their origin and development. A major objective of the proposed studies therefore is to establish the forcing conditions of carbonate mound formation and to test the hypothesis of a possible linkage between cold seeps and the development of carbonate mounds, cold water benthic communities and authigenic carbonate formation. This proposal is further directed towards a definition of the geological, geochemical and oceanographical conditions and processes forcing the development of carbonate mounds and establishing the benthic ecology and environmental conditions of carbonate mound and cold water coral reef formation in contrasting areas of the NE Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. A third objective is to establish the factors governing lithification and stabilisation of carbonate mounds, and to use these as modern analogues of fossil carbonate build ups. Comparison between recent and past mound forcing conditions will allow development of a model of mound genesis in relation to tectonic, sedimentological, oceanographical and biological extant conditions.