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Deep˗Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania: An Introduction

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Deep-Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania

Abstract

The waters surrounding the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, located in the Northwest African region , harbour one of the four major upwelling systems and productive areas of the world’s oceans. Along 754 km of the desert coastline, the permanent upwelling phenomena and seasonal shifting of the oceanographic front strongly influence the water mass structures , climate and species distribution in the Mauritanian EEZ . Despite oceanographic and faunistic interest and the threats of demersal deep˗sea fisheries and oil exploration , for the past few decades, marine research in Mauritania was performed to obtain information on the Banc d’Arguin and other coastal ecosystems; only recently, research is being focused on the study of slope habitats . Between 2007 and 2010, the Spanish Oceanographic Institute launched a partnership program with the Mauritanian Institute for Oceanographic Research and Fisheries and the University of Vigo (Spain) to study the resources and ecosystems in Mauritanian deep waters. Four multidisciplinary expeditions were conducted using the Spanish R/V Vizconde de Eza , and geomorphological prospection and oceanographic and biological sampling were performed. Special efforts were made to characterize the Banc d’Arguin canyon systems, the giant coral carbonate mounds barrier and a newly discovered seamount . In this monograph, we tried to compile, in one volume, the main findings of the Maurit surveys and provide a detailed description of the bathymetry , geomorphology and oceanography, and biodiversity and structure of demersal fishes and benthic communities that inhabit the soft˗ and hard˗bottom habitats of the Mauritanian slope .

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all our Mauritanian and Spanish colleagues and friends, offshore and onshore, whose efficient collaboration ensured the scientific success of the Maurit surveys and publication of this monograph. We also thank the crews of the R/V Vizconde de Eza for their on˗board support and professionalism. We want to thank Luis Miguel Agudo for preparing the maps.

This work was undertaken within the framework of the EcoAfrik project and constitutes ECOAFRIK publication number 18.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Subida a Radio Faro, 50˗52, 36390, Vigo, Spain

    Ana Ramos

  2. Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas˗Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Fran Ramil

  3. Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Corazón de María, 8, 28002, Madrid, Spain

    José Luis Sanz

Authors
  1. Ana Ramos
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  2. Fran Ramil
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  3. José Luis Sanz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Ramos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Español de Oceanografía , Vigo, Spain

    Ana Ramos

  2. Facultade de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Fran Ramil

  3. Instituto Español de Oceanografía , Madrid, Spain

    José Luis Sanz

Annexes

Annexes

Annexe 1.1 Characteristics of the oceanographic stations carried out with vertical CTD (SBE25) and net sensor (SBE37) in Mauritanian waters during Maurit-0811, Maurit-0911 and Maurit-1011 surveys
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Annexe 1.2 Characteristics of the stations carried out with commercial and beam trawl over soft bottoms , and with rock dredge over hard structures in Mauritanian slope during the four Maurit surveys (n.a.: not available data, null station; in rock dredging’s only start position was taken)
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Ramos, A., Ramil, F., Sanz, J.L. (2017). Deep˗Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania: An Introduction. In: Ramos, A., Ramil, F., Sanz, J. (eds) Deep-Sea Ecosystems Off Mauritania. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1023-5_1

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