Macrofauna; European margin; Bioindicators; Cold-water corals ecosystems; Paleoceanography; Foraminifera; Environmental changes
Spezzaferri Silvia, Kucera Michal, Pearson Paul Nicholas, Wade Bridget Susan, Rappo Sacha, Poole Christopher Robert, Morard Raphaël, Stalder Claudio (2021), Correction: Fossil and Genetic Evidence for the Polyphyletic Nature of the Planktonic Foraminifera "Globigerinoides", and Description of the New Genus Trilobatus, in
PLOS ONE, 16(11), e0259924-e0259924.
Stalder Claudio, El Kateb Akram, Vertino Agostina, Rüggeberg Andres, Camozzi Osvaldo, Pirkenseer Claudius M., Spangenberg Jorge E., Hajdas Irka, Van Rooij David, Spezzaferri Silvia (2018), Large-scale paleoceanographic variations in the western Mediterranean Sea during the last 34,000 years: From enhanced cold-water coral growth to declining mounds, in
Marine Micropaleontology, 143, 46-62.
Pirkenseer Claudio, Stalder Claudio, Spezzaferri Silvia (2018), Late Glacial and Holocene Ostracoda from the Melilla cold-water coral mound field., in
Bridging gap and genetation in Swiss Sedimentology, 1-12.
Vertino Agostina, Spezzaferri Silvia, Rüggeberg Andres, Stalder Claudio, Wheeler Andy (2015), A brief overview on cold-water coral ecosystems and facies., in
Cushman Foundation Special Publication, 44, 12-19.
Spezzaferri Silvia, Rüggeberg Andres, Stalder Claudio, MArgreth Stephan (2015), Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from cold water coral ecosystems, in
Cushman Foundation Special Publication, 44, 20-48.
Rüggeberg Andres, Spezzaferri Silvia, Margreth Stephan (2015), Cold-water coral reefs along the European continental margin: the role of foraminifera., in
Atlas of benthic foraminifera from cold water coral reefs, 44, 3-11.
Spezzaferri Silvia, Kucera Michal, Pearson Paul, Wade Bridget, Rappo Sacha, Poole Chris, Morard Raphael, Stalder Claudio (2015), Fossil and genetic evidence for the polyphyletic origin of the planktonic foraminiferal genus Globigerinoides and the description of the new genus Trilobatus., in
PLoS ONE, 10(5), e0128108.
Stalder Claudio, Vertino Agostina, Rosso Antonietta, Rüggeberg Andres, Pirkenseer Claudius, Spangenberg J., Spezzaferri Silvia, Camozzi Osvaldo, Rappo Sacha, Hajdas Irka (2015), Microfossils, a Key to Unravel Cold-Water Carbonate Mound Evolution through Time: Evidence from the Eastern Alboran Sea, in
PLOS ONE, 10(10), e0140223.
Stalder Claudio, Szekely-Szabolcs Flavius, El Kateb Akram, Van Rooji David, Spezzaferri Silvia (2015), SCHACKOINELLA SPINA, A NEW BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL SPECIES FROM COLDWATER CORAL ECOSYSTEMS OF THE ALBORAN SEA AND THE GULF OF CA´ DIZ, in
Journal of Foramniferal research, 45(4), 344-352.
Spezzaferri Silvia, Rüggeberg Andres, Stalder Claudio, MArgreth Stephan (2015), Systematic description and illustration of Benthic and planktonic foraminifera from cold water coral ecosystems, in
Cushman Foundation Special Publication, 44, 49-140.
The discovery of extensive provinces of cold-water coral (CWC) carbonate mounds in modern oceans opens new perspectives in our understanding of their diversity and variability as the key to unravel their evolution through time. This research brings new insight on the start-up, development and demise of cold-water carbonate mounds focusing on the key role that CWC ecosystems have played since the last 15-20kyr in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Target regions of this study are (1) the Belgica Mound Province, eastern slope of the Porcupine Seabight (NE Atlantic) where the small-scale Moira Mounds host active CWCs; (2) the declining CWCs recently discovered in the Alboran Sea (The Melilla Mound Field); and (3) the buried CWCs in the Gulf of Cadiz. The Moira Mounds have been target of the FP7-EU Eurofleets cruise of the R/V Belgica (June 2012) granted to the PI. The Alboran Sea and Gulf of Cadiz have been the target of the “Mediterranean Gateway” cruise on the RV Marion Dufresne (June 2013) funded by the EU and partially by the Swiss NSF. The high priority of this research is highlighted by the fact that the European Union granted twice expensive ship time for sampling CWCs and the Irish Government gave the permission to sample within the Irish Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).Sampling was performed by box- and gravity- coring to retrieve sediments, micro- and macro-fauna from at least the last 20 kyr, and by CTD rosette (Conductivity, Temperature, Density) to obtain information about the recent chemical characteristics of the water column.The present project aims at quantitatively investigate biomineralized macro- and micro-fauna, coupled with geochemical analyses (phosphorus content, organic matter, stable isotopes) and dating (by U/Th on corals, AMS14C on foraminifera, isotope stratigraphy and eco-stratigraphy based on relative abundances of planktonic foraminiferal species and/or group with similar ecological significance) to provide highlights on the nucleation and demise of CWCs in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in space and time. Funding is requested to: a) complete the on-going thesis of Claudio Stalder (1 year); b) finalize the micropaleontological and geochemical investigation in the three regions (an additional PhD thesis starting in parallel with the last year of C. Stalder's thesis), and c) open a new field of research topic not present in Swiss Universities such as the macrofauna from CWCs (3 years post-doc position).Our specific objectives are to: characterize CWC habitats of the three sites and analyse the relationships among the key factors triggering CWC development; qualitatively and quantitatively characterize biomineralized macro- and micro-fauna to identify and standardize “Biomineralized Benthic Facies” on- and off-mound to be compared with fossil analogues; characterize the paleo/environmental settings in the three regions and through time and identifiy similarities and differences of modern and fossil CWC from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.This project benefits from the collaboration with the members of the ESF-Research Network Programme “COld-Water CArbonate Reservoir systems in Deep Environments” (COCARDE-ERN) funded by ESF from 2011 to 2016 of which the PI is chairperson and the co-applicant is scientific advisors.