Habitats of the Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus Canyon, Northwestern Mediterranean.

Lo Iacono, C., Orejas, C., Gori, A., Gili, J.-M., Requena, S., Puig, P. and Ribo, M. (2012) Habitats of the Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus Canyon, Northwestern Mediterranean. In: Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat. , ed. by Harris, Peter T. and Baker, Elaine K.. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 457-469. ISBN 978-0-12-385140-6 DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-385140-6.00032-3.

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Abstract

The Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus canyon are located in the southern most sector of the Gulf of Lions, in the northwestern Mediterranean. The Cap de Creus continental shelf contains sandy and muddy sediments and an abrupt morpho­ logy, with rocky outcrops, relict bioherms, erosive features, and planar bedforms. The Cap de Creus canyon breaches the shelf at a depth of 110 m and denotes a marked dif­ ference in the morphology between the northern and the southern flank, reflecting a different depositional regime. The most common substrates correspond to coarse and medium sands (28%) and silty sediments (40%). The most common megabenthic assemblages of the shelf correspond to the communities of "offshore detritic" (31.95%) and "coastal terrigenous muds" (36.99%), mostly dominated by sea pens, alcyonaceans, and ceriantharians. The northern flank of the Cap de Creus canyon is predominantly depositional, whereas the southern flank is erosional. Rocky outcrops provide the sub­ stratum for cold­water coral (CWC) communities' development, in which the white coral Madrepora oculata is the most abundant species.

Document Type: Book chapter
Keywords: Swath bathymetry, Continental Shelf, Submarine Canyon, Geomorphology, Habitat mapping, Northwestern Mediterranean, JAGO
Publisher: Elsevier
Projects: INDEMARES, HERMES, HERMIONE, DEEP CORAL, SHAKE
Expeditions/Models/Experiments:
Date Deposited: 20 Jun 2017 12:17
Last Modified: 20 Jun 2017 12:17
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/38442

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