Competing theories

Abstract

Because the Porcupine Basin is where most detailed scientific work has been done on deep-water corals and live carbonate mounds, including drilling through a mound, this is where I will start the analysis and discussion. The intention with this chapter is to critically review some of the hypotheses proposed to explain the formation of contemporaneous deep-water coral reefs and carbonate mounds. We would all like to know why they only grow in very specific locations, how they manage to select their sites, and to survive, even through some of the most dramatic climate changes our planet has experienced (i.e., the shift from glaciation, or Arctic climate, to inter-glacial, or temperate climate, and back again). Perhaps there is no straightforward answer, or perhaps there is a myriad of (confusing) answers.