The continental margin off SE Brazil comprises the Santos and Campos sedimentary basins, which sustain some of the world’s most intensive oil and gas exploitation activities. These basins were formed nearly 100 million years ago, back when the South Atlantic was a narrow marine environment between South America and Africa. The region is characterised by extensive deep sedimentary environments and pockmark fields, where it is speculated that natural gas may be emitted from the seabed and potentially sustain chemosynthetic ecosystems. There are also steep rocky slopes that are home to important cold-water coral reef systems, irregularly threatened by fisheries activity. Many knowledge gaps exist in this region, and filling them is critical for responsible management of current and future human activities.

Boundary of the iAtlantic study region: 10. Deep-sea continental slope, banks and cold seep ecosystems off Brazil

The boundary of Region #10 was slightly adjusted to better capture existing data UNIVALI have analysed available data available for Region #10 and suggested ...