1. Coralligenous banks along the western and northern continental shelf of Sardinia Island (Mediterranean Sea).
- Author
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De Falco, Giovanni, Conforti, Alessandro, Brambilla, Walter, Budillon, Francesca, Ceccherelli, Giulia, De Luca, Mario, Di Martino, Gabriella, Guala, Ivan, Innangi, Sara, Pascucci, Vincenzo, Piazzi, Luigi, Pireddu, Laura, Santonastaso, Antonio, Tonielli, Renato, and Simeone, Simone
- Subjects
OCEANOGRAPHIC maps ,CORALLINE algae ,CONTINENTAL shelf ,OCEAN bottom ,ISLANDS ,BANKING industry - Abstract
Mapping of coralligenous banks was carried out along the continental shelf of the northern and western margin of Sardinia Island (Italy, western Mediterranean Sea) in the context of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC). Coralligenous banks are bioconstructions produced by calcareous coralline algae. Seafloor mapping was carried out through multibeam echosounder surveys and video transects, using a Remote Operating Vehicles (ROV), in areas not formerly explored. A high-resolution digital model of the seabed (DTM) was obtained from multibeam data. A total surface of 436 km² of sparse patches of coralligenous banks was mapped in the depth range ~40-160 m. A final map of coralligenous habitat distributions along the western and northern continental shelf of Sardinia (scale 1:250,000) was produced. The base-map is formed by the shaded DTM of the seabed. Other mapped features include the edge of the continental shelf and the distribution of rocky seabed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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