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The Moira Mounds, small cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: Part A—an early stage growth phase for future coral carbonate mounds?

The Moira Mounds, small cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: Part A—an early stage growth phase for future coral carbonate mounds?
The Moira Mounds, small cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: Part A—an early stage growth phase for future coral carbonate mounds?
This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the Moira Mounds in the Porcupine Seabight, combining a review of currently published material with new data and interpretations. The Moira Mounds are circular to ovoid-shaped individual or clustered coral banks (referred to as “scleractinian spaced cluster macroreefs”) located in the Belgica (carbonate) mound province, Porcupine Seabight, west of Ireland. They are up to 10 m high and 20 to 35 m in diameter. For the first time, a map showing the complete extent and location of the Moira Mounds is published, revealing 256 examples grouped into four areas mainly between 800 and 1100 m water depth. ROV groundtruthing revealed the importance of bedload sand transport in Moira Mound formation and development processes through sediment entrapment by coral frameworks (Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata). New estimated growth rates for the Moira Mounds are comparable to those measured for much larger Irish coral carbonate mounds but an order of magnitude lower than rates from comparably sized reefs offshore Norway. As well as the framework corals, 26 macrobenthic invertebrate species were identified from a single box core that were similar to those communities found in adjacent off-mound habitats. It is proposed that the Moira Mounds are an example of the early stage growth phase of nearby giant coral carbonate mounds and represent a westward extension of the zone of active cold-water coral mound growth and therefore a deepening of the zone of cold-water coral growth over recent climate cycles.
cold-water coral, coral carbonate mound, benthic processes, biogeological processes, marine geology, NE Atlantic
0025-3227
53-64
Wheeler, A.J.
17a38f47-d5cc-4bcb-b1a8-ddfb84851d99
Kozachenko, M.
6e2cfc29-402e-4dc0-b667-72bcd1a40e0d
Henry, L.-A.
994bc4c7-cc08-46cc-91e1-d2b99d56e8ba
Foubert, A.
f4d6e38f-ef14-460a-b661-ebc642c05b7b
de Haas, H.
7c8694dd-c8a1-48ec-a989-9593cbffd788
Huvenne, V.A.I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
Masson, D.G.
edd44c8b-38ca-45fb-8d0d-ac8365748a45
Olu, K.
6ade1fa1-f86d-4295-a0a2-412f74e6943a
Wheeler, A.J.
17a38f47-d5cc-4bcb-b1a8-ddfb84851d99
Kozachenko, M.
6e2cfc29-402e-4dc0-b667-72bcd1a40e0d
Henry, L.-A.
994bc4c7-cc08-46cc-91e1-d2b99d56e8ba
Foubert, A.
f4d6e38f-ef14-460a-b661-ebc642c05b7b
de Haas, H.
7c8694dd-c8a1-48ec-a989-9593cbffd788
Huvenne, V.A.I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
Masson, D.G.
edd44c8b-38ca-45fb-8d0d-ac8365748a45
Olu, K.
6ade1fa1-f86d-4295-a0a2-412f74e6943a

Wheeler, A.J., Kozachenko, M., Henry, L.-A., Foubert, A., de Haas, H., Huvenne, V.A.I., Masson, D.G. and Olu, K. (2011) The Moira Mounds, small cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: Part A—an early stage growth phase for future coral carbonate mounds? Marine Geology, 282 (1-2), 53-64. (doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2010.08.006).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the Moira Mounds in the Porcupine Seabight, combining a review of currently published material with new data and interpretations. The Moira Mounds are circular to ovoid-shaped individual or clustered coral banks (referred to as “scleractinian spaced cluster macroreefs”) located in the Belgica (carbonate) mound province, Porcupine Seabight, west of Ireland. They are up to 10 m high and 20 to 35 m in diameter. For the first time, a map showing the complete extent and location of the Moira Mounds is published, revealing 256 examples grouped into four areas mainly between 800 and 1100 m water depth. ROV groundtruthing revealed the importance of bedload sand transport in Moira Mound formation and development processes through sediment entrapment by coral frameworks (Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata). New estimated growth rates for the Moira Mounds are comparable to those measured for much larger Irish coral carbonate mounds but an order of magnitude lower than rates from comparably sized reefs offshore Norway. As well as the framework corals, 26 macrobenthic invertebrate species were identified from a single box core that were similar to those communities found in adjacent off-mound habitats. It is proposed that the Moira Mounds are an example of the early stage growth phase of nearby giant coral carbonate mounds and represent a westward extension of the zone of active cold-water coral mound growth and therefore a deepening of the zone of cold-water coral growth over recent climate cycles.

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More information

Published date: 30 March 2011
Keywords: cold-water coral, coral carbonate mound, benthic processes, biogeological processes, marine geology, NE Atlantic
Organisations: Marine Geoscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 181863
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/181863
ISSN: 0025-3227
PURE UUID: 4c964a1d-9834-4e8c-a01a-179eee3a59f4
ORCID for V.A.I. Huvenne: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7135-6360

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Apr 2011 12:38
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:19

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Contributors

Author: A.J. Wheeler
Author: M. Kozachenko
Author: L.-A. Henry
Author: A. Foubert
Author: H. de Haas
Author: V.A.I. Huvenne ORCID iD
Author: D.G. Masson
Author: K. Olu

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