Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Deep Acoustic Applications

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Coral Reef Remote Sensing

  • 3065 Accesses

Abstract

Because cold-water coral ecosystems exist at relatively inaccessible depths of 500–1,000 m, only a limited number of accurate maps have been produced for this resource. This chapter describes a combined acoustic survey approach used to acquire high-spatial resolution (up to 0.5 m) maps from two cold-water coral sites in the Straits of Florida. The approach consists of reconnaissance surveys using hull-mounted multi-beam systems, followed by deployment of multi-beam and side-scan sonar systems on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The wide swath of the reconnaissance survey tools permitted coverage of large areas, producing coarse (20 and 50 m) resolution maps that identified coral-building mounds larger than 2,600 m2. Areas of interest identified using the reconnaissance tools were then surveyed with the AUV platform, which resolved cold-water coral fields at 0.5–3 m resolution. The AUV maps detected mounds as small as 81 m2 and revealed fine-scale coral ridges up to 20 m high that were not resolved by the reconnaissance maps. The AUV maps, and other remotely acquired data, were ground-truthed with submersible dives to produce an integrated, geo-referenced dataset. Spatial and quantitative analyses were applied to this dataset in order to characterize the morphology and distribution of coral-building features in each surveyed site. In the Miami Terrace site, where corals build low-relief ridges, a habitat classification map and spatial analyses show that coral patches preferentially grow on and along the northern sides of the ridges. A southward flowing bottom current, measured by the AUV, dictates the observed asymmetrical coral distribution. In the site on the lower slope of Great Bahama Bank, where corals form individual mounds, morphometric analyses show a lack of correlation between bottom current regime and mound morphology. Results from these analyses indicate that the two cold-water coral sites in the Straits of Florida are highly variable in terms of coral distribution, spatial parameters, and current regime. Given its high-resolution, the approach presented here is ideal for determining the biophysical processes that underlie these and other remote, fragile ecosystems. Assessment and monitoring of coral distribution and mound abundance based on geophysical data is crucial for managing cold-water coral habitats and is an important research priority.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Suggested Reading

  • Freiwald A, Murray JR (2005) Cold water corals and ecosystems. Springer, Berlin, p 1243

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lurton X (2002b) An introduction to underwater acoustics: principle and application. Springer, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts MJ, Wheeler AJ, Freiwald A, Cairns SD (2009) Cold-water corals: the biology and geology of deep-sea coral habitats. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

References

  • Blondel P (2009) The handbook of sidescan sonar. Springer, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Blondel P, Murton BJ (1997) Handbook of seafloor sonar imagery. Wiley-Praxis, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns S (1979) The deep-water scleractinia of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Stud Fauna Curacao Other Caribbean Isl 57:1–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Correa TBS, Grasmueck M, Eberli GP, Reed JK, Verwer K, Purkis SJ (2012) Variability of cold-water coral mounds in a high sediment input and tidal current regime, straits of Florida. Sedimentology 59:1278–1304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Correa TBS, Eberli GP, Grasmueck M, Reed KJ (2012) Genesis and morphology of cold-water coral ridges in a unidirectional current regime. Marine Geol 326–328:14–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Courtney R, Shaw J (2000) Environmental marine geoscience 2. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter imaging of the Canadian continental shelf. Geosci Can 27:31–42

    Google Scholar 

  • De Mol B, Van Rensbergen P, Pillen S, Van Herreweghe K, Van Rooij D, McDonnell A, Huvenne V, Ivanov M, Swennen R, Henriet JP (2002) Large deep-water coral banks in the porcupine basin, Southwest of Ireland. Mar Geol 188:193–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan MFJ, Grehan AJ, Guinan JC, Brown C (2008) Modeling the local distribution of cold-water corals in relation to bathymetric variables: adding spatial context to deep-sea video data. Deep-sea research part I-oceanographic research papers, 55:1564–1579

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorschel B, Hebbeln D, Foubert A, White M, Wheeler AJ (2007) Hydrodynamics and cold-water coral facies distribution related to recent sedimentary processes at Galway Mound West of Ireland. Mar Geol 244:184–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dorschel B, Wheeler AJ, Huvenne VAI, de Haas H (2009) Cold-water coral mounds in an erosive environmental setting: TOBI side-scan sonar data and ROV video footage from the Northwest Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic. Mar Geol 264:218–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duing W, Johnson D (1971) Southward flow under the Florida current. Science 173:428–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fosså JH, Lindberg B, Christensen O, Lundalv T, Svellingen I, Mortensen PB, Alvsvag J (2005) Mapping of Lophelia reefs in Norway: experiences and survey methods. In: Freiwald A, Murray JR (eds) Cold water corals and ecosystems. Springer, Berlin, pp 359–391

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fosså JH, Mortensen PB, Furevik DM (2002) The deep-water coral Lophelia Pertusa in Norwegian waters: distribution and fishery impacts. Hydrobiologia 471:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foubert A, Beck T, Wheeler AJ, Opderbecke J, Grehan A, Klages M, Thiede J, Henriet JP (2005) New view of the Belgica mounds, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: preliminary results from the Polarstern ARK-XIX/3a ROV cruise. In: Freiwald A, Murray JR (eds) Cold water corals and ecosystems. Springer, Berlin, pp 403–415

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Foubert A, Huvenne VAI, Wheeler A, Kozachenko M, Opderbecke J, Henriet JP (2011) The Moira mounds, small cold-water coral mounds in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: part B: evaluating the impact of sediment dynamics through high-resolution ROV-borne bathymetric mapping. Mar Geol 282:65–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freiwald A, Henrich R, Patzold J (1997) Anatomy of deep-water coral reef mound from Stjernsund, West Finnmark. In: James NP, Clarke JAD (eds) Cool-water carbonates, vol 56. SEPM Special Publication, Tulsa, pp 741–762

    Google Scholar 

  • George RA, Shuy JP, Cauquil E (2003) Deep-water AUV logs 25,000 km under the sea—technology provides high-quality remote sensing data for deep-water seabed engineering projects in half the time. Sea Technol 44:10–15

    Google Scholar 

  • George RA (2006) Advances in AUV remote-sensing technology for imaging deep-water geohazards. Lead Edge 25:1478–1483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grasmueck M, Eberli GP, Viggiano DA, Correa TBS, Rathwell G, Luo JG (2006) Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) mapping reveals coral mound distribution, morphology, and oceanography in deep water of the straits of Florida. Geophy Res Lett, vol 33. doi:10.1029/2006GL027734

  • Guinan J, Grehan AJ, Dolan MFJ, Brown C (2009) Quantifying relationships between video observations of cold-water coral cover and seafloor features in Rockall Trough, west of Ireland. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 375:125–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovland M, Croker PF, Martin M (1994) Fault-associated seabed mounds (carbonate knolls?) off Western Ireland and Northwest Australia. Mar Pet Geol 11:232–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovland M (1990) Do carbonate reefs form due to fluid seepage? Terra 2:8–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurley RJ, Fink LK (1963) Ripple marks show that countercurrent exists in Florida straits. Science 139:603–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huvenne VAI, Blondel P, Henriet JP (2002) Textural analyses of sidescan sonar imagery from two mound provinces in the Porcupine Seabight. Mar Geol 189:323–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huvenne VAI, De Mol B, Henriet JP (2003) A 3D seismic study of the morphology and spatial distribution of buried coral banks in the porcupine basin, SW of Ireland. Marine Geol 198:5–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Jalving B, Gade K, Hagen OK, Vestgård K (2003) A Toolbox of aiding techniques for the HUGIN AUV integrated inertial navigation system. In: Proceedings from Oceans, San Diego, pp 1146–1153

    Google Scholar 

  • Lurton X (2002) An introduction to underwater acoustics: principle and application. Springer, Chichester, p 347

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenyon NH, Akhmetzhanov AM, Wheeler AJ, van Weering TCE, de Haas H, Ivanov MK (2003) Giant carbonate mud mounds in the Southern Rockall Trough. Mar Geol 195:5–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kongsberg (2005) 12 KHz multi-beam echo sounder—seabed mapping to full Ocean depth, http://www.kongsberg-simrad.de, Kongsberg Newsletter. Accessed November 2010

  • Messing CG, Neumann AC, Lang JC (1990) Biozonation of deep-water lithoherms and associated hardgrounds in the Northeastern Straits of Florida. Palaios 5:15–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mienis F, van Weering T, de Haas H, de Stigter H, Huvenne VAI, Wheeler AJ (2006) Carbonate 699 mound development at the SW Rockall Trough margin based on high resolution TOBI and 700 seismic recording. Mar Geol 233:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Mienis F, de Stigter HC, White M, Dulneveldc G, de Haas H, van Weering TCE (2007) Hydrodynamic controls on cold-water coral growth and carbonate-mound development at the SW and SE Rockall Trough margin, NE Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research Part I-Oceanographic Research Papers 54:1655–1674

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullins HT, Newton CR, Heath K, Vanburen HM (1981) Modern deep-water coral mounds North of Little Bahama Bank—criteria for recognition of deep-water coral bioherms in the rock record. J Sediment Petrol 51:999–1013

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullins HT, Heath KC, Van Buren HM, Newton CR (1984) Anatomy of a modern open ocean carbonate slope: Northern Little Bahama Bank. Sedimentology 31:141–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann AC, Ball MM (1970) Submersible observations in straits of Florida—geology and bottom currents. Geol Soc Am Bull 81:2861–2873

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann AC, Kofoed JW, Keller GH (1977) Lithoherms in straits of Florida. Geology 5:4–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northcutt JG, Kleiner AA, Chance TS, Lee J (2000) Cable route surveys utilizing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Mar Technol Soc J 34:11–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opderbecke J (1997) At-sea calibration of a USBL underwater vehicle positioning system, Oceans 1997 MTS/IEEE 1:721–726

    Google Scholar 

  • Paull CK, Neumann AC, Ende BAA, Ussler W, Rodriguez NM (2000) Lithoherms on the Florida-Hatteras slope. Mar Geol 166:83–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pourtales LF (1868) Contributions to the fauna of the gulf stream at great depths. Bull Mus Comp Zool Harvard 1:121–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Purkis SJ, Kohler K, Riegl BM, Rohmann SO (2007) The statistics of natural shapes in modern coral reef landscapes. J Geol 115:493–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed JK (1980) Distribution and structure of deep-water Oculina-Varicosa coral reefs off Central Eastern Florida. Bull Mar Sci 30:667–677

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed JK (2002) Comparison of deep-water coral reefs and lithoherms off Southeastern USA. Hydrobiologia 471:57–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed JK, Weaver D, Pomponi SA (2006) Habitat and Fauna of deep-water Lophelia pertusa coral reefs off the Southeastern USA: blake plateau, straits of Florida, and Gulf of Mexico. Bull Mar Sci 78:343–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Brown CJ, Long D, Bates CR (2005) Acoustic mapping using a Multibeam Echosounder reveals cold-water coral reefs and surrounding habitats. Coral Reefs 24:654–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Wheeler AJ, Freiwald A (2006) Reefs of the deep: the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems. Science 312:543–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers AD (1999) The Biology of Lophelia pertusa (LINNAEUS 1758) and other deep-water reef-forming corals and impacts from human activities. Int Rev Hydrobiol 84:315–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Stetson TR, Squires DF, Pratt RM (1962) Coral Banks occurring in deep-water on the Blake Plateau. Am Museum Novitates 2114:1–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichert C (1958) Cold- and deep-water coral banks. Am Assoc Pet Geol Bull 42:1064–1082

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Rooij D, De Mol B, Huvenne VAI, Ivanov M, Henriet JP (2003) Seismic evidence of current-controlled sedimentation in the Belgica Mound Province, upper porcupine slope, Southwest of Ireland. Mar Geol 195:31–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Weering TCE, de Haas H, de Stigter HC, Lykke-Andersen H, Kouvaev I (2003) Structure and development of giant carbonate mounds at the SW and SE Rockall Trough margins, NE Atlantic Ocean. Mar Geol 198:67–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler AJ, Beyer A, Freiwald A, de Haas H, Huvenne VAI, Kozachenko M, Roy KOL, Opderbecke J (2007) Morphology and environment of cold-water coral carbonate mounds on the NW European margin. Int J Earth Sci 96:37–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler AJ, Kozachenko M, Beyer A, Foubert A, Huvenne VA, Klages M, Masson DG, Olu-LeRoy K, Thiede J (2005a) Sedimentary processes and carbonate mounds in the Belgica mound province, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic In: Freiwald, Murray JR (eds) Cold water corals and ecosystems, Springer, Berlin, pp 571–603

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler AJ, Bett BJ, Billett DSM, Masson DG, Mayor D (2005b) The Impact of demersal trawling on NE Atlantic deep-water coral habitats: the case of the Darwin mounds, UK. In: Barnes PW, Thomas JP (eds) Benthic habitats and the effects of fishing. American Fisheries Society, Maryland, pp 807–817

    Google Scholar 

  • White M, Mohn C, de Stigter H, Mottram G (2005) Deep-water coral development as a function of hydrodynamics and surface productivity around the submarine banks of the Rockall Trough, NE Atlantic. In: Murray JR, Freiwald A (eds) Cold water corals and ecosystems. Springer, Berlin, pp 503–514

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank NOAA Oceans Explorer program for AUV ship time, as well as C&C Technologies, the crew of the R/V Northern Resolution, R/V Seward Johnson, and the JSL-II submersible. A grant provided by the State of Florida, Medicines from Florida’s Oceans Project (HBOI Project # S2156, S2168) provided funding for the submersible cruises. We also thank David Viggiano for current data processing, and John K. Reed for his input on the manuscript. Post-cruise analyses are supported by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (#49017ND8) and by the Industrial Associates of the Comparative Sedimentology Laboratory (CSL) at the University of Miami.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Cswy, Miami, FL 33149, USA

    Thiago B. S. Correa, Mark Grasmueck, Gregor P. Eberli & Klaas Verwer

  2. ConocoPhillips Company, 600 North Dairy, Ashford, Houston, TX 77029, USA

    Thiago B. S. Correa

  3. Statoil, Sandsliveien 90, 5254, Bergen, Norway

    Klaas Verwer

  4. National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Oceanographic Center, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL 33004, USA

    Samuel J. Purkis

Authors
  1. Thiago B. S. Correa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Grasmueck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gregor P. Eberli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Klaas Verwer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Samuel J. Purkis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thiago B. S. Correa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Mayagüez, 00681, Puerto Rico

    James A. Goodman

  2. Oceanographic Center, National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, N. Ocean Drive 8000, Dania Beach, 33004, Florida, USA

    Samuel J. Purkis

  3. School of Geography, Planning, and Environmental Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia

    Stuart R. Phinn

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Correa, T.B.S., Grasmueck, M., Eberli, G.P., Verwer, K., Purkis, S.J. (2013). Deep Acoustic Applications. In: Goodman, J., Purkis, S., Phinn, S. (eds) Coral Reef Remote Sensing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9292-2_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation