The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean

Department of General Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August University Göttingen, Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

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Estrutura de Missão para a Extensão da Plataforma Continental (EMEPC), Rua Costa Pinto 165, 2770-047 Paço de Arcos, Portugal

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Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Centro Oceanográfico de Cádiz, Muelle de Levante (Puerto Pesquero), 11006 Cádiz, Spain

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Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales/INMAR, Universidad de Cádiz (UCA), Av. República Saharaui s/n, 11510 Cádiz, Spain

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Antonio Bode

Oceans 2021, 2(2), 351-385; https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020021

Received: 13 December 2020 / Revised: 19 March 2021 / Accepted: 16 April 2021 / Published: 26 April 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Advances and Challenges in Ocean Science—Feature Papers for the Founding of Oceans)

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Abstract

In this work, we integrate five case studies harboring vulnerable deep-sea benthic habitats in different geological settings from mid latitude NE Atlantic Ocean (24–42° N). Data and images of specific deep-sea habitats were acquired with Remoted Operated Vehicle (ROV) sensors (temperature, salinity, potential density, O₂, CO₂, and CH₄). Besides documenting some key vulnerable deep-sea habitats, this study shows that the distribution of some deep-sea coral aggregations (including scleractinians, gorgonians, and antipatharians), deep-sea sponge aggregations and other deep-sea habitats are influenced by water masses’ properties. Our data support that the distribution of scleractinian reefs and aggregations of other deep-sea corals, from subtropical to north Atlantic could be dependent of the latitudinal extents of the Antarctic Intermediate Waters (AAIW) and the Mediterranean Outflow Waters (MOW). Otherwise, the distribution of some vulnerable deep-sea habitats is influenced, at the local scale, by active hydrocarbon seeps (Gulf of Cádiz) and hydrothermal vents (El Hierro, Canary Island). The co-occurrence of deep-sea corals and chemosynthesis-based communities has been identified in methane seeps of the Gulf of Cádiz. Extensive beds of living deep-sea mussels (Bathymodiolus mauritanicus) and other chemosymbiotic bivalves occur closely to deep-sea coral aggregations (e.g., gorgonians, black corals) that colonize methane-derived authigenic carbonates. View Full-Text

Keywords: seafloor mapping; vulnerable deep-sea habitats; deep-sea corals; chemosynthesis-based communities; vulnerable marine ecosystem; Atlantic Ocean

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Somoza, L.; Rueda, J.L.; Sánchez-Guillamón, O.; Medialdea, T.; Rincón-Tomás, B.; González, F.J.; Palomino, D.; Madureira, P.; López-Pamo, E.; Fernández-Salas, L.M.; Santofimia, E.; León, R.; Marino, E.; Fernández-Puga, M.d.C.; Vázquez, J.T. The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean. Oceans 2021, 2, 351-385. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020021

AMA Style

Somoza L, Rueda JL, Sánchez-Guillamón O, Medialdea T, Rincón-Tomás B, González FJ, Palomino D, Madureira P, López-Pamo E, Fernández-Salas LM, Santofimia E, León R, Marino E, Fernández-Puga MdC, Vázquez JT. The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean. Oceans. 2021; 2(2):351-385. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020021

Chicago/Turabian Style

Somoza, Luis, José L. Rueda, Olga Sánchez-Guillamón, Teresa Medialdea, Blanca Rincón-Tomás, Francisco J. González, Desirée Palomino, Pedro Madureira, Enrique López-Pamo, Luis M. Fernández-Salas, Esther Santofimia, Ricardo León, Egidio Marino, María d.C. Fernández-Puga, and Juan T. Vázquez. 2021. "The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean" Oceans 2, no. 2: 351-385. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020021

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The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean

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