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Facies belts and communities of the arctic Vesterisbanken Seamount (Central Greenland Sea)

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Summary

The Arctic Vesterisbanken Seamount, situated far offshore in the central Greenland Sea, provides a unique facility for studing modern cold water siliceous carbonate deposits. A nearly year round sea ice cover, which retreats on average only during two months, and a rather constant temperature and salinity structure of the water column characterize the Arctic conditions of the area.

Despite predominantly oligotrophic conditions with a pronounced food supply from the pelagic realm only during the ice-free season, the seamount is covered extensively by extended sponge-bryozoan constructions. Three distinct facies belts reveal a pronounced depth zonation which depends on variations in downslope food transfer and which is specifically effective due to the development of aTaylor current regime over the seamount: i) the crest facies from the summit at −133m to −260 m, ii) the shallow slope facies from −260 m to −400 m, iii) the deep slope facies from −400 m down to the abyssal plain at about— 3.000 m. Different biogenic structures and communities are found within these facies belts, including widely extended biogenic mats, sponge bryozoan-serpulid buildups with mounds, hedges, spurs and flatcake-like structures, bryozoan thickets and sponge-crinoid mounds. Depth zonation, internal structure and controlling parameters in the formation of these biogenic structures are discussed in the context of their significance as a modern end member of the Foramol facies and their implication for the fossil record. In addition, the younger volcanic and hydrothermal history of the seamount is presented with special reference to its bearing on Holocene biogenic colonization patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GEOMAR-Forschungszentrum für marine Geowissenschaften, Wischhofstraße 1-3, D-2300, Kiel 14

    Rüdiger Henrich,  André Freiwald &  Jörn Thiede

  2. Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut der Universität Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40-60, D-2300, Kiel 1

    Martin Hartmann &  Priska Schäfer

  3. Institut für Paläontologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Schwendener Str. 8, D-1000, Berlin 33

    Joachim Reitner

  4. Bergakademie Freiberg-Sektion Geowissenschaften, WB Hydrogeologie, Postfach 47, D-9200, Freiberg

    Peter Dietrich

  5. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Columbusstraße, D-2800, Bremerhaven

    Stefan Steinmetz

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  1. Rüdiger Henrich
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Henrich, R., Hartmann, M., Reitner, J. et al. Facies belts and communities of the arctic Vesterisbanken Seamount (Central Greenland Sea). Facies 27, 71–103 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02536805

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