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Mid-Holocene extinction of cold-water corals on the Namibian shelf steered by the Benguela oxygen minimum zone
Tamborrino, L.; Wienberg, C.; Titschack, J.; Wintersteller, P.; Mienis, F.; Schröder-Ritzrau, A.; Freiwald, A.; Orejas, C.; Dullo, W.-C.; Haberkern; Hebbeln, D. (2019). Mid-Holocene extinction of cold-water corals on the Namibian shelf steered by the Benguela oxygen minimum zone. Geology (Boulder Colo.) 47(12): 1185-1188. https://dx.doi.org/10.1130/g46672.1
In: Geology. Geological Society of America: Boulder. ISSN 0091-7613; e-ISSN 1943-2682, more
Peer reviewed article  
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Authors  Top 
  • Tamborrino, L.
  • Wienberg, C.
  • Titschack, J.
  • Wintersteller, P.
  • Mienis, F., more
  • Schröder-Ritzrau, A.
  • Freiwald, A., more
  • Orejas, C.
  • Dullo, W.-C.
  • Haberkern, J.
  • Hebbeln, D.
Abstract
    An exceptionally large cold-water coral mound province (CMP) was recently discovered extending over 80 km along the Namibian shelf (offshore southwestern Africa) in water depths of 160–270 m. This hitherto unknown CMP comprises >2000 mounds with heights of up to 20 m and constitutes the largest CMP known from the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. Uranium-series dating revealed a short but intense pulse in mound formation during the early to mid-Holocene. Coral proliferation during this period was potentially supported by slightly enhanced dissolved oxygen concentrations compared to the present Benguela oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). The subsequent mid-Holocene strengthening of the Benguela Upwelling System and a simultaneous northward migration of the Angola-Benguela Front resulted in an intensification of the OMZ that caused the sudden local extinction of the Namibian corals and prevented their reoccurrence until today.GeoRef Subject
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