EVIDENZE DI PALEOCOMUNITÀ A CORALLI DI ACQUE FREDDE DELL'ULTIMO GLACIALE AL LARGO DI GALLIPOLI (LECCE)

Abstract

Cold water corals build up massive reefs which strongly enhance biodiversity of deep-sea areas. These frameworks can form coral mounds which also contribute to the complexity and heterogeneity of deep ecosystems. White corals are also widespread in the Mediterranean Sea, where they are particularly abundant in the so-called Coral Provinces where the currents of Levantine Intermediate Waters (LIWs) and Deep Mediterranean Waters (DMWs) supply these ecosystems with food and oxygen. In this study, we provide evidence of the presence of fossil white coral communities off Gallipoli (city of Lecce, South Italy), which date back to the last Würmian glaciation in the Pleistocene. Since the thriving of these communities is strongly influenced by LIWs and DMWs currents, our findings may attest to variations of the current regime in the Mediterranean Sea that occurred during the last glacial period that affected this basin.