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Physical Controls on Coral Communities on the George V Land Slope: Some Working Hypotheses

Created 12/02/2026

Updated 12/02/2026

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Dense coral-sponge communities on the upper continental slope off George V Land have been identified as a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem in the Antarctic. The challenge is now to understand their likely distribution. The CEAMARC survey found these communities at sites on the upper slope in depths of 570 - 950m. Based on these results we propose some working hypotheses defining the physical settings suitable for such assemblages. Icebergs scour to 500m in this region and the lack of such disturbance is probably a factor allowing growth of rich benthic ecosystems. In addition, the richest communities are found in the heads of canyons. We suggest two possible oceanographic mechanisms linking abundant filter feeder communities and canyon heads. The canyons in which they occur receive descending plumes of Antarctic Bottom Water formed on the George V shelf and these water masses could entrain abundant food for the benthos. Maps of water properties measured during the Collaborative East Antarctic Marine Census (CEAMARC) survey provide some support for this idea. Another possibility is that the canyons harbouring rich benthos are those that cut the shelf break. Such canyons are known sites of high productivity in other areas because of a number of oceanographic factors, including strong current flow and increased mixing, and the abrupt, complex topography. These hypotheses provide a framework for the identification of areas where there is a higher likelihood of encountering these Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems.

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Title Physical Controls on Coral Communities on the George V Land Slope: Some Working Hypotheses
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/f2a8f5b2-b3be-4abd-8fe0-92e110c3fc51
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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      ],
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      ],
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      [
        139.0,
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      ],
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      ]
    ]
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  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Physical Controls on Coral Communities on the George V Land Slope: Some Working Hypotheses". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/physical-controls-on-coral-communities-on-the-george-v-land-slope-some-working-hypotheses5