Abstract
In this work, we sought to document how submarine mass-movements influence the submarine landscape and associated habitat distributions on the upper portion of the northern Ionian Margin (eastern Mediterranean Sea) between 200 m to greater than 1,000 m in water depth (w.d.). In this area, mass-wasting processes have created unique morphological forms that, in turn, have generated high diversity for edaphic and hydrogeologic conditions; and these areas are marked by the patchy occurrence of varying natural benthic habitats. Surficial or sub-surficial Mass-Transport Deposits (MTDs) were documented by seismic and high-resolution morpho-bathymetric data and displayed dense aggregation for detached blocks spread over 1,200 km2 between 400 and 1,000 m in w.d.. Living Cold-Water Coral (CWC) communities populate the blocky region and form coral topped mounds. These habitats are important Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) that are exposed to human pressure in the deep sea. Through production of a detailed geomorphological map and an examination of published data on the extent and distribution of CWC communities in the area, we sought to document how comprehensive research into submarine slide topography should also take into account the peculiar characteristics of their biotopes.
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Acknowledgments
The authors’ work benefited from EU FP7 project CoralFish (Grant agreement number: 213144 – www.eu-fp7-coralfish.net), the National Italian project MAGIC, the RITMARE project, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) and the ESF COCARDE Network. ROV video footage were collected within the framework of the CoNISMa project RBAU 01RKC7_004 APLABES (2004-2006FIRB program). The authors sincerely thank the reviewers (Claudio Lo Iacono and Jean-Francois Bourillet) for their valuable suggestions and constructive comments.
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Savini, A., Marchese, F., Verdicchio, G., Vertino, A. (2016). Submarine Slide Topography and the Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems: A Case Study in the Ionian Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). In: Lamarche, G., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 41. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20979-1_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20979-1_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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