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The Magellan mound province is one of the three known provinces of carbonate mounds or cold-water coral banks in the Porcupine Seabight, west of Ireland. It has been studied in detail using a large and varied data set: 2D and 3D seismic data, sidescan sonar imagery and video data collected during ROV deployment have been used to describe the mounds in terms of origin, growth processes and burial. The aim of this paper is to present the Magellan mounds and their setting in an integrated, holistic way. More than 1,000 densely spaced and mainly buried mounds have been identified in the area. They all seem to be rooted on one seismic reflection, suggesting a sudden mound start-up. Their size and spatial distribution characteristics are presented, together with the present-day appearance of the few mounds that reach the seabed. The underlying geology has been studied by means of fault analysis and numerical basin modelling in an attempt to identify possible hydrocarbon migration pathways below or in the surroundings of the Magellan mounds. Although conclusive evidence concerning the processes of mound initiation proves to be elusive, the results of both fault analysis and 2D numerical modelling failed to identify, with confidence, any direct pathways for focused hydrocarbon flow to the Magellan province. Diffuse seepage however may have taken place, as drainage area modelling suggests a possible link between mound position and structural features in the Hovland-Magellan area. During mound development and growth, the interplay of currents and sedimentation seems to have been the most important control. Mounds which could not keep pace with the sedimentation rates were buried, and on the few mounds which maintained growth, only a few corals survive at present. more...

Cold-water coral carbonate mounds, owing their presence mainly to the framework building coral Lophelia pertusa and the activity of associated organisms, are common along the European margin with their spatial distribution allowing them to be divided into a number of mound provinces. Variation in mound attributes are explored via a series of case studies on mound provinces that have been the most intensely investigated: Belgica, Hovland, Pelagia, Logachev and Norwegian Mounds. Morphological variation between mound provinces is discussed under the premise that mound morphology is an expression of the environmental conditions under which mounds are initiated and grow. Cold-water coral carbonate mounds can be divided into those exhibiting “inherited” morphologies (where mound morphology reflects the morphology of the colonised features) and “developed” morphology (where the mounds assume their own gross morphology mainly reflecting dominant hydrodynamic controls). Finer-scale, surface morphological features mainly reflecting biological growth forms are also discussed. more...

Recent international research activity, involving a strong Irish collaboration, has shown that coral reefs are not exclusively associated with warm tropical waters but are also present in the deeper and colder Northeast Atlantic. In the Porcupine Seabight west of Ireland, coral-colonised carbonate mounds (up to 350m high) are present at 600-900m water depth. The corals Lophelia pertusa L. and Madrepora oculata L. contribute to this diverse ecosystem that may also play a significant role in expanding deep-water fisheries.New side-scan sonar, multibeam echosounder, sub-bottom profiler and underwater video imagery supplemented with sedimentological sample material were used to map the seabed in the environs of the Belgica Carbonate Mound province, eastern Porcupine Seabight. The data were integrated in a GIS and provides information on sediment pathways and benthic current patterns within the study area. A facies map of the study area highlights differing sedimentary processes showing evidences for strong northward bottom currents whose interaction has an influence on mounds growth and morphology. This survey revealed mound flanks dominated by sediment waves that give way to coral banks towards the mound summits. A form of coral accumulation was also documented.Detailed analyses of sediment properties from a 26m core through sediment drift have generated a high-resolution palaeoclimate record revealing temporal patterns in bottom current strength variations. An accurate assessment of this influence on mound through a comparison with coral growth rates is ongoing. more...