Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6384304 | Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography | 2013 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
The Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) has been identified as an important component of the lower bathyal (800â3500 m depth) benthic biogeographic province in the North Atlantic Ocean. We performed a multi-scale characterization of seafloor topography of the MAR. In the basin-scale analysis, we have used the 30â³ General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) grid to estimate the area of different components of lower bathyal habitat in the main North Atlantic basin and to produce a corresponding depth-area relationship. The regional-scale investigation is based on swath bathymetry surveys which show the flanks to MAR to comprise a series of sediment-draped flat plains (37.65% of area) with intervening gentle slopes ranging from 5° to 30° (56.70% of area) and slopes steeper than 30° (5.65% of area). The steep slopes have significant areas of hard substrate (70%) comprising bare cliff faces and rock outcrops. Within the local-scale approach, detailed surveys of such steep areas were done by multi-beam sonar and cameras mounted on a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). In several locations, the terrace-like seafloor topography has also been identified. Overall, it has been shown that the MAR lower bathyal is 95% covered with soft sediment.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
Tomasz Niedzielski, Ã
ge Høines, Mark A. Shields, Thomas D. Linley, Imants G. Priede,