Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

The Alpha Crucis Carbonate Ridge (ACCR): Discovery of a giant ring-shaped carbonate complex on the SW Atlantic margin

Full text
Author(s):
Maly, Mascimiliano [1] ; Schattner, Uri [2] ; Jose Lobo, Francisco [3] ; Soares Dias, Rodolfo Jasao [1] ; Ramos, Raissa Basti [1] ; Couto, Daniel de Matos [1] ; Gomes Sumida, Paulo Yukio [1] ; de Mahiques, Michel Michaelovitch [1, 4]
Total Authors: 8
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Oceanog Inst, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Haifa, Leon H Charney Sch Marine Sci, Dr Moses Strauss Dept Marine Geosci, Haifa - Israel
[3] Univ Granada, CSIC, Inst Andaluz Ciencias Tierra, Armilla - Spain
[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Energy & Environm, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 4
Document type: Journal article
Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS; v. 9, DEC 10 2019.
Web of Science Citations: 0
Abstract

Recently acquired bathymetric and high-resolution seismic data from the upper slope of Santos Basin, southern Brazilian margin, reveal a major geomorphological feature in the SW Atlantic that is interpreted as a carbonate ridge - the Alpha Crucis Carbonate Ridge (ACCR). The ACCR is the first megastructure of this type described on the SW Atlantic margin. The -17 x 11-km-wide ring-shaped ACCR features tens of >100-m-high steep-sided carbonate mounds protruding from the surrounding seabed and flanked by elongated depressions. Comet-like marks downstream of the mound structures indicate that the area is presently influenced by the northward flow of the Intermediate Western Boundary Current (IWBC), a branch of the Subtropical Gyre that transports Antarctic Intermediate Water. Abundant carbonate sands and gravels cover the mounds and are overlain by a biologically significant community of living and dead ramified corals and associated invertebrates. The IWBC acts as a hydrodynamic factor that is responsible for both shaping the bottom and transporting coral larvae. We contend that the ACCR was formed by upward fluid flow along active sub-surface faults and fractures that formed by lateral extension generated by the ascending movement of salt diapirs at depth. The ACCR provides an important modern and accessible analogue for a seabed carbonate build-up related to sub-surface hydrocarbon systems. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 15/17763-2 - Mudbelts from the South and Southeast Brazil: implications about the anthropogenic influence on the marine environment
Grantee:Márcia Caruso Bícego
Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 16/22194-0 - Anomalous bottom features on the upper slope off Southern Brazil
Grantee:Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
FAPESP's process: 17/50191-8 - Dymamics of salt dome exhumation on the ocean floor, focusing on Santos basin offshore Brazil
Grantee:Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
FAPESP's process: 14/08266-2 - Continental slope morphological features on the SE Brazilian Margin: active tectonics versus modern oceanographic conditions
Grantee:Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants