Researchers have discovered ‘coral gardens’ at a depth of 4 kilometers off the coast of Western Australia, each of which forms a mini-ecosystem including a series of organisms. That reports EurekAlert Friday.
With the help of a deep-sea robot, the research team mapped gorges to a depth of 4,000 meters. On the vertical walls of those canyons they found a bewildering opulence of life and coral, says the expedition leader Julie Trotter from the University of Western Australia (UWA).
The discovery is important because the vast majority of the three oceans around Australia are not yet explored. According to the researchers, it is important to find out more about life in the canyons, because the water there comes from Antarctica. That water in turn feeds all the major oceans in the world and regulates our climate system.
The research team investigated the so-called Bremer, Leeuwin and Perth canyons. The Bremer ravine in particular is interesting because of the vast coral cemetery that is located there.
For example, by investigating the Bremer gorge, the researchers can learn a lot about recent and older climate history.
Exploring the deep sea around Australia is slow because the country itself has only one oceanographic research vessel. In addition, it itself has no deep-sea robots. The SuBastian robot from the American Schmidt Ocean Institute was therefore used for this expedition.
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