Deep Water Corals of the Davidson Seamount: Habitat Suitability Taxonomy Age and Growth 2006

Description

Building off the successes of an Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) expedition to Davidson Seamount in 2002, this project will focus on deep-water corals. The week-long expedition in 2002 was the initial effort to characterize the biology and geology of the Davidson Seamount, 1,250 - 3,700 meters deep off Central California. Many results and products from this cruise are relevant to OE, including ocean science issues, education, outreach, and resource management. The focus of the proposed 2005 cruise would be to expand on the exploratory results of our last seamount expedition to investigate processes that generated coral distribution patterns. We will use a simple model derived from results of the last cruise to test our understanding of coral distribution, and use this model to guide exploration in other regions of the Seamount (still over 99.98% unexplored.) Specific regions of the seamount will be targeted based on a topographic index, substratum type, and coral species depth records. Complementary studies of the biodiversity and population dynamics of seamount fauna will include collections of corals for taxonomic studies, and age and growth studies of corals using innovative radiometric techniques. Addressing the public interest in seamounts, corals, and exploration, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will record imagery from Davidson Seamount to feature in an upcoming television series, co-produced with the Discovery Channel, for broadcast in the United States and internationally. The Sanctuary West Coast Visitor Center and Monterey Bay Aquarium have plans to feature seamounts and corals in future exhibits, and high-definition video imagery, as well as research findings will be pivotal in the exhibit development.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
21 welcome.html https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06davidson/welcome.html
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords

Tags

  • ocean discovery
  • ocean research
  • explorer
  • transformational research
  • ocean education
  • seamount
  • bbc
  • underwater
  • stewardship
  • oceans
  • marine education
  • deep water corals
  • noaa
  • discovery channel
  • ocean literacy
  • undersea
  • ocean exploration and research
  • earth science
  • systematic exploration
  • central california
  • british broadcasting corporation
  • ocean exploration
  • sea
  • western pacific
  • technology
  • exploration
  • science
  • pacific ocean
  • resource management
  • expedition
  • scientific mission

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