Submarine Mass Transport Within Monterey Canyon: Benthic Disturbance Controls on the Distribution of Chemosynthetic Biological Communities

Documenting mass transport within Monterey Canyon and Fan has been a focus of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) observations, sampling, monitoring, and multibeam mapping studies. These efforts indicate that major mass transport events occur within upper Monterey Canyon (\u3c2 km water depths) with a sub-annual recurrence frequency. However, 14C-stratigraphies indicate that a sand carrying event has not penetrated through lower Monterey Canyon (\u3e2 km water depths) and onto Monterey Fan for ~100 years. Simultaneous efforts to document the distribution of benthic taxa observed in the video records from 668 ROV dives conducted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) provide a uniquely detailed record of the occurrence of chemosynthetic biological communities (CBC). The combined results of these studies provide an understanding of the relationship between disturbance caused by episodic mass wasting events and the distribution of CBC. CBC are common within the canyon\u27s axis below ~2.5 km water depth, but have not been found within the canyon\u27s axis at depths shallower than 2 km. Moreover, CBC occur on the canyon walls at essentially any depth, primarily within young (~hundreds of years old) slump scars. The distribution of CBC provides evidence about the disturbance history of the seafloor. Major mass transport events will destroy communities that lie in their path. Erosion associated with major mass transport events can create environments to support CBC by exposing methane-bearing strata. This can happen as a result of slumping events on the sidewalls of the canyon or where major gravity flow events have excavated the base of canyon walls. Once fresh strata are exposed, geochemical conditions to support CBC will persist for a few centuries. Because CBC are composed of slow-growing and long-lived organisms, it will take decades for these communities to be established. Their existence indicates that environmental stability has occurred over a similar time scale

Report on the Marine Imaging Workshop 2022

Imaging is increasingly used to capture information on the marine environment thanks to the improvements in imaging equipment, devices for carrying cameras and data storage in recent years. In that context, biologists, geologists, computer specialists and end-users must gather to discuss the methods and procedures for optimising the quality and quantity of data collected from images. The 4 th Marine Imaging Workshop was organised from 3-6 October 2022 in Brest (France) in a hybrid mode. More than a hundred participants were welcomed in person and about 80 people attended the online sessions. The workshop was organised in a single plenary session of presentations followed by discussion sessions. These were based on dynamic polls and open questions that allowed recording of the imaging community’s current and future ideas. In addition, a whole day was dedicated to practical sessions on image analysis, data standardisation and communication tools. The format of this edition allowed the participation of a wider community, including lower-income countries, early career scientists, all working on laboratory, benthic and pelagic imaging. This article summarises the topics addressed during the workshop, particularly the outcomes of the discussion sessions for future reference and to make the workshop results available to the open public

Report on the Marine Imaging Workshop 2022

Imaging is increasingly used to capture information on the marine environment thanks to the improvements in imaging equipment, devices for carrying cameras and data storage in recent years. In that context, biologists, geologists, computer specialists and end-users must gather to discuss the methods and procedures for optimising the quality and quantity of data collected from images. The 4th Marine Imaging Workshop was organised from 3-6 October 2022 in Brest (France) in a hybrid mode. More than a hundred participants were welcomed in person and about 80 people attended the online sessions. The workshop was organised in a single plenary session of presentations followed by discussion sessions. These were based on dynamic polls and open questions that allowed recording of the imaging community’s current and future ideas. In addition, a whole day was dedicated to practical sessions on image analysis, data standardisation and communication tools. The format of this edition allowed the participation of a wider community, including lower-income countries, early career scientists, all working on laboratory, benthic and pelagic imaging.This article summarises the topics addressed during the workshop, particularly the outcomes of the discussion sessions for future reference and to make the workshop results available to the open public