Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific

Abstract Deep-sea scleractinian coral reefs are protected ecologically and biologically significant areas that support global fisheries. The absence of observations of deep-sea scleractinian reefs in the Central and Northeast Pacific, combined with the shallow aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) and...

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Autores principales:	Amy R. Baco, Nicole Morgan, E. Brendan Roark, Mauricio Silva, Kathryn E. F. Shamberger, Kelci Miller
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/702859f93716440ea23ef2f06ee60168
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:702859f93716440ea23ef2f06ee601682021-12-02T16:06:19ZDefying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific10.1038/s41598-017-05492-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/702859f93716440ea23ef2f06ee601682017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05492-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Deep-sea scleractinian coral reefs are protected ecologically and biologically significant areas that support global fisheries. The absence of observations of deep-sea scleractinian reefs in the Central and Northeast Pacific, combined with the shallow aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) and high carbonate dissolution rates there, fueled the hypothesis that reef formation in the North Pacific was improbable. Despite this, we report the discovery of live scleractinian reefs on six seamounts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Emperor Seamount Chain at depths of 535–732 m and aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) values of 0.71–1.33. Although the ASH becomes deeper moving northwest along the chains, the depth distribution of the reefs becomes shallower, suggesting the ASH is having little influence on their distribution. Higher chlorophyll moving to the northwest may partially explain the geographic distribution of the reefs. Principle Components Analysis suggests that currents are also an important factor in their distribution, but neither chlorophyll nor the available current data can explain the unexpected depth distribution. Further environmental data is needed to elucidate the reason for the distribution of these reefs. The discovery of reef-forming scleractinians in this region is of concern because a number of the sites occur on seamounts with active trawl fisheries.Amy R. BacoNicole MorganE. Brendan RoarkMauricio SilvaKathryn E. F. ShambergerKelci MillerNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Amy R. Baco Nicole Morgan E. Brendan Roark Mauricio Silva Kathryn E. F. Shamberger Kelci Miller Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
description	Abstract Deep-sea scleractinian coral reefs are protected ecologically and biologically significant areas that support global fisheries. The absence of observations of deep-sea scleractinian reefs in the Central and Northeast Pacific, combined with the shallow aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) and high carbonate dissolution rates there, fueled the hypothesis that reef formation in the North Pacific was improbable. Despite this, we report the discovery of live scleractinian reefs on six seamounts of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Emperor Seamount Chain at depths of 535–732 m and aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) values of 0.71–1.33. Although the ASH becomes deeper moving northwest along the chains, the depth distribution of the reefs becomes shallower, suggesting the ASH is having little influence on their distribution. Higher chlorophyll moving to the northwest may partially explain the geographic distribution of the reefs. Principle Components Analysis suggests that currents are also an important factor in their distribution, but neither chlorophyll nor the available current data can explain the unexpected depth distribution. Further environmental data is needed to elucidate the reason for the distribution of these reefs. The discovery of reef-forming scleractinians in this region is of concern because a number of the sites occur on seamounts with active trawl fisheries.
format	article
author	Amy R. Baco Nicole Morgan E. Brendan Roark Mauricio Silva Kathryn E. F. Shamberger Kelci Miller
author_facet	Amy R. Baco Nicole Morgan E. Brendan Roark Mauricio Silva Kathryn E. F. Shamberger Kelci Miller
author_sort	Amy R. Baco
title	Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
title_short	Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
title_full	Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
title_fullStr	Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
title_full_unstemmed	Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific
title_sort	defying dissolution: discovery of deep-sea scleractinian coral reefs in the north pacific
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/702859f93716440ea23ef2f06ee60168
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Defying Dissolution: Discovery of Deep-Sea Scleractinian Coral Reefs in the North Pacific

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