Welcome
to the first edition of Seabed News. The magazine will initially
be produced bimonthly and will feature news stories, synopses of scientific
studies, cruise notices, project news, meeting/cruise reports, offers of
participation in studies, free advertising for conferences, workshops and
meetings.
The
magazine welcomes submission of any of the above items , providing the
information submitted has a sedimentary theme and relates to the seabed.
The magazine includes a 'What's On' diary
of forthcoming events.
Multibeam
investigation of the world's largest known living cold water reef
The
Sula Reef located west of Trondheim on the Mid-Norwegian shelf is the world's
largest known living cold water reef. Even though known by fishermen for
a long period, the first investigation and "re-discovery" was made by the
Norwegian oil company Statoil in connection with pipeline investigations.
We now know
that
deep water coral reefs of Lophelia pertusa are abundant on
the mid Norwegian continental shelf and along the continental break at
200-400 m depth.
The reef areas have traditionally
been rich fishing grounds for longline and gillnet fisheries, and the coral
habitat are known
3D
image from the central part of the Sula Reef, showing isolated and chained
reefs concentrated along the Sula Ridge. The Sula Deep with water depths
upto 350 to the right. On the right side, the elongated depressions are
ice bergh plough marks. Based on multibeam data from the Norwegian Hydrographic
Office, image processing by the Geological Survey of Norway.
Go to page 2