From corals to canyons: the Great Barrier Reef margin

Webster, Jody M., Beaman, Robin J., Bridge, Thomas, Davies, Peter, Byrne, Maria, Williams, Stefan, Manning, Phil, Pizarro, Oscar, Thornborough, Kate, Woolsey, Erika, Thomas, Alex, and Tudhope, Sandy (2008) From corals to canyons: the Great Barrier Reef margin. EOS, 89 (24). pp. 217-218.

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Abstract

The significance of submerged fossil coral reefs as important archives of abrupt global sea level rise and climate change has been confirmed by investigations in the Caribbean [Fairbanks, 1989] and the Indo-Pacific (see Montaggioni [2005] for a summary) and by recent Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) activities in Tahiti [Camoin et al., 2007]. Similar submerged (40-130 meters) reef structures are preserved along the margin of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), but they have not yet been systematically studied. The submerged reefs have the potential to provide critical new information about the nature of past global sea level and climate variability and about the response of the GBR to these past and perhaps future environmental changes [Beaman et al., 2008]. Equally important for GBR Marine Park managers is information about the role of the reefs as habitats and substrates for modern biological communities. Here we summarize the highlights and broader implications of a September- October 2007 expedition on the R/V Southern Surveyor (Australian Marine National Facility, voyage SS07/2007) to investigate the shelf edge, upper slope, and submarine canyons along the GBR margin.

Item ID: 1879
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 0096-3941
Keywords: Great Barrier Reef; deep-water; biodiversity; cold-water corals; geomorphology; autonomous underwater vehicles
Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2010 04:10
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience > 040601 Geomorphology and Regolith and Landscape Evolution @ 50%
04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0403 Geology > 040310 Sedimentology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9699 Other Environment > 969902 Marine Oceanic Processes (excl. Climate Related) @ 100%
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