Development of Mediterranean cold-water coral ecosystems since the late glacial
Fink, H.G.; Wienberg, C.; De Pol-Holz, R.; Hebbeln, D. (2014). Development of Mediterranean cold-water coral ecosystems since the late glacial, in: Van Rooij, D. et al. (Ed.) Book of Abstracts. 2nd Deep-Water Circulation Congress: The Contourite Log-book. Ghent, Belgium, 10-12 September 2014. VLIZ Special Publication, 69: pp. 47-48 In: Van Rooij, D.; Rüggeberg, A. (Ed.) (2014). Book of Abstracts. 2nd Deep-Water Circulation Congress: The Contourite Log-book. Ghent, Belgium, 10-12 September 2014. VLIZ Special Publication, 69. Ghent University, Department of Geology and Soil Science/Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Oostende. xviii, 152 pp., more In: VLIZ Special Publication. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ): Oostende. ISSN 1377-0950, more |  |
| Available in | Authors | | Document type: Summary
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| Keywords | Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Quaternary > Holocene
MED, Mediterranean [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal | | Author keywords | Cold-water corals; Mediterranean Sea; Levantine Intermediate Water |
| Authors | | Top | - Fink, H.G.
- Wienberg, C.
- De Pol-Holz, R.
- Hebbeln, D.
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| Abstract | Based on all available ages obtained on the dominant framework building scleractinian coldwater coral species Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata collected in the entire Mediterranean Sea (compiled from literature review and own studies), we discuss the basin-wide occurrences of these species emphasising their spatial and temporal development during the late glacial and Holocene. We show that these species became abundant since the deglacial (<14ka) and their Late Pleistocene and Holocene proliferation or demise significantly differed between the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea sub-basins, depending on regional (sub-basin related) environmental conditions, like the availability of food or bottom water oxygenation. In combination with the corals' preference to settle in intermediate depths, a strong relationship between Mediterranean cold-water coral development and intermediate water mass circulation is suggested, though resulting regionally in different parameters influencing the corals’ prosperity. |
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