In: Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 2018, vol. 111, no. 3, p. 561–572
Cold-water coral ecosystems represent unique and exceptionally diverse environments in the deep-sea. They are well developed along the Irish margin, varying broadly in shape and size. The Moira Mounds, numerous small-sized mounds, are nestled in the Belgica Mound Province (Porcupine Seabight, North-East Atlantic). The investigation of living (Rose Bengal stained) and dead benthic...
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In: Paleoceanography, 2016, vol. 31, no. 10, p. 1350–1367
High-latitude cold-water coral (CWC) reefs are particularly susceptible due to enhanced CO₂ uptake in these regions. Using precisely dated (U/Th) CWCs (Lophelia pertusa) retrieved during research cruise POS 391 (Lopphavet 70.6°N, Oslofjord 59°N) we applied boron isotopes (δ¹¹B), Ba/Ca, Li/Mg, and U/Ca ratios to reconstruct the environmental boundary conditions of CWC reef growth. The...
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In: Paleoceanography, 2016, vol. 31, no. 3, p. 2015PA002859
Carbonate buildups and mounds are impressive biogenic structures throughout Earth history. In the recent NE Atlantic, cold-water coral (CWC) reefs form giant carbonate mounds of up to 300 m of elevation. The expansion of these coral carbonate mounds is paced by climatic changes during the past 2.7 Myr. Environmental control on their development is directly linked to controls on its main...
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In: PLoS ONE, 2015, vol. 10, no. 10, p. e0140223
Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems occur worldwide and play a major role in the ocean's carbonate budget and atmospheric CO2 balance since the Danian (~65 m.y. ago). However their temporal and spatial evolution against climatic and oceanographic variability is still unclear. For the first time, we combine the main macrofaunal components of a sediment core from a CWC mound of the Melilla Mounds...
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In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2014, vol. 132, p. 288–310
We show that the Li/Mg systematics of a large suite of aragonitic coral skeletons, representing a wide range of species inhabiting disparate environments, provides a robust proxy for ambient seawater temperature. The corals encompass both zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate species (Acropora sp., Porites sp., Cladocora caespitosa, Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora...
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In: Marine Geology, 2014, vol. 352, p. 89–110
The recent marine carbonate world comprises two major compartments: (1) the surface domain of the photozoan carbonates, confined in space by water depth and by the penetration of light, and (2) a deep domain, where heterozoan mound-builder guilds directly forage on fluxes of nutrients, which primarily percolate from the photic zone and/or are generated by in situ benthic processes. Locally, giant...
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In: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2014, vol. 99, p. 227–236
IODP Expedition 307 made it for the first time possible to investigate the entire body of a cold-water coral carbonate mound. Here we provide new insights into the long-term history of Challenger Mound on the European continental margin off Ireland. This study is based on age determinations (230Th/U, 87Sr/86Sr) and geochemical signals (Mg/Li and Ba/Ca) measured in the scleractinian cold-water...
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In: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2014, vol. 99, p. 249–269
Cold-water coral (CWC) settlement in northern Norway is strongly related to the outlet-glaciers of the Fennoscandian Ice-sheet, and dating of known CWC structures show clearly post-glacial ages. Two gravity cores (POS391 559/2,277 cm long and POS391 559/3,282 cm long) were recovered on a CWC reef in the area of Lopphavet, northern Norway. Detailed investigations on lithology (sediment structures...
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In: Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 2013, vol. 43, no. 1, p. 21-39
Quantitative investigations on the total (living + dead) benthic foraminiferal assemblages were performed on 32 surface-sediment samples (0–2 cm, .63-mm size fraction) from water depths ranging from 110–600 m (‘‘on-reef’’) to .2000 m (‘‘off-reef’’) in the Oslo Fjord (Skagerrak Basin), the mid-Norwegian slope (Sula, Røst, and Trænadjupet reefs), and the northern coral-reef...
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In: Marine Geology, 2011, vol. 282, no. 1-2, p. 79-90
The understanding of the paleoenvironment during initiation and early development of deep cold-water coral carbonate mounds in the NE Atlantic is currently a focus of international research. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 307 drilled the 155 m high Challenger Mound in the Porcupine Seabight (SW off Ireland) in order to investigate for the first time sediments from the...
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