- Thumbnail
- Resource ID
- 9f194c2e-a904-11eb-a3c8-0242c0a8100c
- Title
- 7. Equatorial Atlantic, Romanche Fracture Zone
- Date
- Jan. 5, 2021, midnight, Publication
- Abstract
- The Romanche Fracture Zone is a prominent geological feature known as a transform fault, which offsets the line of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis by about 900 km – the largest such offset in the Atlantic. The fracture zone manifests at the seafloor as long and deep valley reaching 7,000 m water depth, which acts as the main conduit for the flow of deep water masses between the North and South Atlantic basins. Seafloor habitats are shaped by the crests and ridges that flank the valley, but also include flatter sediment-covered areas and gentle slopes. These habitats are influenced by a high flux of organic matter from phytoplankton blooms caused by seasonal equatorial upwelling. Such high productivity in the middle of the vast oligotrophic (nutrient-poor) zones of the subtropical north and south Atlantic is thought to have an ‘oasis’ effect, enhancing abundance and diversity of marine life in and around the Romanche Fracture Zone. As such, it has been identified as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and is of high conservation interest in light of the developing deep-sea mining industry.
- Edition
- --
- Owner
- t.morato@gmail.com
- Point of Contact
- Morato
- t.morato@gmail.com
- Purpose
- Boundary of the iAtlantic study region: 7. Equatorial Atlantic, Romanche Fracture Zone
- Maintenance Frequency
- None
- Type
- not filled
- Restrictions
- None
- License
- Not Specified
- Language
- por
- Temporal Extent
- Start
- --
- End
- --
- Supplemental Information
- Following some suggestion the Region #7 boundary was slightly enlarged in the NW and SE corners to better encompass the proposed APEI.UNIVALI noted that an EBSA has been proposed for this area and that the ISA meeting in Evora described this region as an APEI. Two features make this region ecologically important; the benthic features (Romanche Fracture Zone system & abyssal North - South connections) and the pelagic feature (equatorial upwelling). The preliminary boundary for Region #7 was capturing both features but portion of the fracture zone system may have been left out. Expanding this boundary seems a good compromise with the pelagic feature, e.g. including yellowfin tuna catch area and spawning grounds (addressed in WP3).
- Data Quality
- --
- Extent
-
- x0: -26.068727493286100
- x1: -11.499999046325700
- y0: -3.024874210357670
- y1: 3.342968463897710
- Spatial Reference System Identifier
- EPSG:4326
- Keywords
- no keywords
- Category
- Boundaries
- Regions
-
Global