Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Stratigraphic framework of the Apulian deep-water coral province, Ionian Sea
Introduction
The living and sub-modern Madrepora-Lophelia coral mounds from Santa Maria di Leuca (SML) display a mosaic-like distribution across a wide sector of the Ionian margin of Apulia between 350 and 1200 m depth (Mastrototaro et al., 2001; Savini et al., 2004, Taviani et al., 2005b, Freiwald et al., 2009; Savini et al., 2005; Savini and Corselli, 2010; Vertino et al., 2010).
The large-scale morphology of the investigated area (Fig. 1) is related to a strong tectonic control, with elongated fault scarps that delineate a step-like topography. Superimposed on this pattern is geomorphological evidence of superficial deformation, which includes broad slope erosion, sediment sliding, block tilting and collapse. Additionally, the evolution of this sector of the Apulian margin is complicated by bottom currents, resulting in sediment remodeling and drifting (Taviani et al., 2005a; Savini and Corselli, 2010).
Deep-water corals colonize the sea bottom, forming thickets on discrete mounds and as isolated occurrences in inter-mound areas (Vertino et al., 2010). The only scant chronostratigraphic information on the area was provided by Taviani et al. (2005a) based upon gravity-cores and in-grab mini-cores. These preliminary data showed the common occurrence of late Pleistocene (Emiliania huxleyi acme nannofossil zone) units, exposed at the sea bottom or covered by a thin veneer of Holocene sediment, testifying a general low recent sedimentation rate and/or significant sweep by bottom currents. Evidence from epibenthic dredge sampling (Taviani et al., 2005b; Rosso et al., 2010; Vertino et al., 2010 and present dataset) have shown the co-occurrence of living corals with firm-ground blocks or hard-grounds, often embedding fragments of older corals.
The obvious need for more regional and detailed information called for further sampling in the coral mound area. This was achieved within the Aplabes project (Apulian PLAteau Bank Ecosystem Study, 2003–2006) by sea-bottom sampling through gravity and short-push cores during two dedicated cruises. Due to the geomorphological complexity of the area, a comprehensive sedimentological study would require an even wider sampling coverage. Instead, we focused our attention on selected sub-areas where previous surveys (Mastrototaro et al., 2001; Taviani et al., 2005a; Savini et al., 2004; Vertino et al., 2010) had shown a significant presence of coral colonies.
The scope of this article is twofold. Firstly the description of the main sedimentary and chronostratigraphic context of each selected area, with particular regard to the relation between the coral colonies and the bedrock. Secondly, a documentation of the early and subsequent phases of deep coral growth, based upon coral hard-grounds and buried pre-modern biostromal deposits.
Section snippets
Sediment samples
The material described in the present paper (Table 1) was collected during the following oceanographic cruises: Coral2 (R/V Urania, 2002; sample code COR2-), Aplabes3 (R/V Universitatis, 2005; sample code AP-) and Corsaro (R/V Urania, 2006; sample code CR-). Overall, 10 gravity-cores (GC) were collected, integrated by a series of mini-cores (GR) manually extracted from undisturbed large-volume (60-L) modified Van Veen grabs. Additional information was obtained from other grab samples and
Results and discussion
Shallow sediment successions investigated on this sector of the Apulian margin show significant differences from site to site and at small scale within each site. This is due to the strong geomorphological and hydrological control exerted on sediment deposition and preservation. A complete stratigraphic evolution is thus described for each site and discussed in relation to the recognition of acoustic facies and geomorphological features, described in Savini and Corselli (2010), which are
Summary and conclusions
Previous chronostratigraphic information in this area was only provided by Taviani et al. (2005a), who documented that deep-water corals established on late Pleistocene units and that the Holocene is a very thin draping, if any. The present study shows that a very strong lateral variability exists at a small scale in the sedimentary cover of this sector of the Apulian margin. Coral colonies, lying on a hard substratum, represent patches within areas mostly covered by recent soft sediments.
With
Acknowledgments
This study benefited of funding and ship-time through various national (FIRB “APLABES”) and international (ESF Euromargins “Moundforce”; EU “Hermes”) programmes. We are grateful to Captains, Crew and Colleagues onboard R.V. Universitatis during APLABES cruises (2003–2005) and R.V. Urania during cruises CORAL (2002) and CORSARO (2006). Special thanks are due to Gabriele Marozzi, Enver Lipparini, Lorenzo Angeletti, Alfio Viola and Michele Vagliasindi for post-cruise technical work. Maria
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