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Scientists have known about these deep-water reefs for years, but the ocean floor has been difficult to explore. <\/p>\n
Recently, better mapping tools and robotic vehicles have allowed researchers to see how large these ecosystems might be. One of the most surprising discoveries has come from the deep waters off Argentina.<\/p>\n
A hidden coral world<\/p>\n
Researchers recently began mapping sections of the seafloor off Argentina\u2019s coast and quickly realized something unusual was there. The structures they encountered stretched far beyond what scientists expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now think Argentina is home to one of the largest reef systems on earth,\u201d said Professor Erik Cordes of Temple University<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething that we didn\u2019t really know existed a year ago now turns out to be one of the largest cold-water coral ecosystems on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n Cordes and PhD candidate Morgan Will are part of a $1.5M research effort through the G20 Coral Research and Development Accelerator Platform, known as CORDAP.<\/p>\n The project brings together researchers from Temple\u2019s College of Science and Technology, the University of Buenos Aires<\/a>, and the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s mission is to locate, study, and restore cold-water coral reefs that grow deep in the Atlantic off Argentina\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n Exploring a dark seafloor<\/p>\n The research team works in a place that humans cannot reach directly. During a cruise in December and January, Will traveled aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute\u2019s research vessel R\/V Falkor (too) to study the seafloor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead of divers, the team used a remotely operated vehicle called SuBastian. The robotic vehicle descends to the ocean floor and sends video and data back to the ship above. It allows scientists to explore landscapes that sit thousands of feet underwater.<\/p>\n These dives help researchers locate coral formations and other deep-sea habitats such as cold seeps, where natural gases slowly leak from the ocean floor.<\/p>\n Scientists once believed cold-water reefs were rare and scattered. That idea is changing quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cOur latest estimates suggest that cold-water coral reefs cover about twice as much area as shallow water coral reefs (such as the Great Barrier Reef<\/a>),\u201d Cordes said.<\/p>\n Life built by slow-growing coral<\/p>\n One coral species drawing attention in Argentina\u2019s waters is Bathelia candida. These corals form large mounds that act as homes for many marine species<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scientists had known Bathelia reefs existed in parts of South America\u2019s deep ocean. What they didn\u2019t expect was the scale of the structures found off Argentina.<\/p>\n \u201cThat really surprised me,\u201d Cordes said. \u201cI knew we were going to find coral mounds, but just how far they extended was really remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n Cold-water corals grow extremely slowly. Some colonies develop over hundreds of years, forming rigid skeletons that create shelter for fish, crabs, and other sea life. These reefs become hotspots of biodiversity<\/a> in an otherwise sparse environment.<\/p>\n They also play a quiet role in global ocean processes. Cold-water coral ecosystems help capture carbon<\/a> and move nutrients from the deep ocean toward surface waters, which supports food production across marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most productive fisheries in the world are in places where there is an upwelling of deep-water nutrients,\u201d Cordes said. \u201cWe\u2019re learning that a lot of those nutrients are coming from these cold-water coral reefs.\u201d<\/p>\n The challenge of deep-sea reef restoration <\/p>\n Finding these reefs is only part of the work. Many have already suffered damage from fishing trawls, oil and gas activity, and debris that sinks from the surface.<\/p>\n To understand the health of these ecosystems, researchers first need to know what an undisturbed reef looks like.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to create a baseline, so that if we come back and see effects of human impacts, we know how to measure that against what a healthy reef<\/a> should look like,\u201d Cordes said.<\/p>\n Restoring these habitats presents a challenge that scientists have barely attempted. Unlike shallow coral reefs, which have been studied for decades, deep-sea restoration methods are still in their infancy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue in the deep sea is that reef restoration hasn\u2019t really ever been done before,\u201d Cordes said. \u201cWe have to create the methods for restoring these communities while we\u2019re in the middle of exploring the deep ocean to find them.\u201d<\/p>\n Building coral habitats by hand<\/p>\n Researchers are experimenting with creative ways to help damaged reefs recover. One idea involves building artificial coral skeletons made from cement mixed with crushed coral sand.<\/p>\n These structures are placed on the seafloor to mimic the hard surfaces that coral larvae prefer when settling and growing. Over time, scientists hope they will attract marine life and help rebuild reef communities.<\/p>\n Will spent much of her expedition deploying these artificial structures across Argentina\u2019s deep-sea reefs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was my first cruise out really deep where we could see a lot of structure-forming cold-water corals<\/a>. I\u2019ve studied them for a couple of years in the lab but had never gotten to see them myself,\u201d Will said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe coolest thing I saw on a dive was this massive Bathelia mound. The number of organisms and coral species living with that structure-forming coral was breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n Building knowledge across borders<\/p>\n The work in Argentina has also created a growing partnership among research groups in North and South America. Scientists from the United States and Argentina are sharing tools, training, and research strategies.<\/p>\n CORDAP is funding a new deep-sea camera platform for the University of Buenos Aires. The system will expand the country\u2019s ability to explore its own offshore ecosystems.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of this project is really focused on improving the capacity to do deep sea research in Argentina, because it just wasn\u2019t there until now,\u201d Cordes said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe capacity to conduct this research isn\u2019t just in the hardware. It\u2019s in the knowledge of how to organize and conduct an offshore cruise. That\u2019s not something you can just step into, so we\u2019re happy to be a resource and a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n Each expedition reveals more of a world that has remained hidden for centuries. Beneath the dark waters off Argentina, coral structures continue to rise slowly from the seafloor, supporting life and shaping the ocean in ways scientists are only beginning to understand.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a mile beneath the ocean\u2019s surface, the seafloor looks very different from the bright coral reefs most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-537660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}