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(豪猪海湾和豪猪海岸以北，挪威边缘罗卡尔海槽边缘和西南部罗卡尔海槽边缘)发现的碳酸盐丘覆盖着冷水珊瑚和相关海底群落的新发现，以及沿加迪斯湾大陆边缘活跃的喷口泥火山地区与自生碳酸盐地壳建造和深水珊瑚礁状珊瑚堆积和碳酸盐烟囱边缘有关的新发现，提出了它们的起源和发展问题，以及地中海新发现的化石和近代生物礁结构。因此，拟议研究的一个主要目标是确定碳酸盐丘形成的强迫条件，并检验冷泉与碳酸盐丘、冷水底栖群落和自生碳酸盐形成之间可能存在联系的假说。这一建议还旨在界定促使碳酸盐丘发育的地质、地球化学和海洋条件和过程，并确定东北大西洋和地中海对比地区碳酸盐丘和冷水珊瑚礁形成的底栖生态和环境条件。第三个目标是确定控制碳酸盐丘岩化和稳定的因素，并将其用作化石碳酸盐堆积的现代类似物。通过比较现代和过去的土丘强迫条件，可以建立一个与构造、沉积学、海洋学和生物现存条件有关的土丘成因模型。

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.