HR: 11:20h
AN: B22A-06    [Abstracts]
TI: Hydrodynamic Conditions Influencing Cold-Water Coral Carbonate Mound Development (Challenger Mound, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic): a Contribution to IODP Exp307
AU: * Thierens, M
EM: mieke.thierens@googlemail.com
AF: Dept. of Geology & Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Donovan's Rd, Cork, xxx, Ireland
AU: ODonnell, R
EM: r.odonnel@ucc.ie
AF: Dept. of Geology & Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Donovan's Rd, Cork, xxx, Ireland
AU: Stuut, J
AF: Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Loebener Strasse, PO Box 330440, Bremen, 28334, Germany
AU: Titschack, J
AF: Institute of Palaeontology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Loewenichstr. 28, Erlangen, 91054, Germany
AU: Dorschel, B
EM: b.dorschel@ucc.ie
AF: Dept. of Geology & Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Donovan's Rd, Cork, xxx, Ireland
AU: Wheeler, A J
EM: a.wheeler@ucc.ie
AF: Dept. of Geology & Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Donovan's Rd, Cork, xxx, Ireland
AB: Cold-water coral carbonate mounds are complex geo-biological systems, originating from the interplay of hydrodynamic, sedimentological and biological factors. As changes in hydrodynamic and sedimentary regime are assumed to be amongst the main controls on mound evolution, reconstruction of the hydrodynamic and palaeoclimatic microenvironment on-mound, compared to the background environmental conditions (as seen off- mound), contributes to the fundamental understanding of these intriguing features and the development of a cold- water coral carbonate mound development model. Challenger Mound, one of the large cold-water coral carbonate mounds along the eastern Porcupine Seabight continental margin (NE Atlantic, SW off Ireland), was successfully drilled during IODP Expedition 307, providing the first complete recovery of a continuous sedimentary sequence through a carbonate mound. High-resolution particle size analysis of the terrigenous sediment component is used as primary proxy for reconstructing the hydrodynamic conditions during mound development. First results indicate repeated shifts in hydrodynamic conditions during sediment deposition on Challenger Mound, from lower-energetic conditions to higher-energetic environments and visa versa, which might reflect environmental variation over interglacial-glacial timescales throughout the whole mound development period. In conjunction with other available data, this dataset provides insight in local current regimes and sediment dynamics, the specific role of cold-water corals in these complex geo-biological systems and the differentiation of different sediment contributors to the coral mound system and its surroundings.
DE: 0408 Benthic processes (4804)
DE: 3002 Continental shelf and slope processes (4219)
DE: 3036 Ocean drilling
DE: 4220 Coral reef systems (4916)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting