Habitat engineering by decadal-scale bioturbation around shipwrecks on the Great Barrier Reef mid-shelf
- Stieglitz, Thomas
DOIAbstract
Conspicuous, systematic patterns of holes in soft sediment around wreck sites on the Great Barrier Reef mid-shelf are documented. Multibeam bathymetry data show concentric 'halos of holes' extending hundreds of meters around the wrecks. These halos at 5 wreck sites between 16 and 111 yr old consist of hundreds of tightly spaced depressions with diameters of up to 10 m. Seafloor imagery clearly indicates a biogenic origin of the holes. The halos of the 2 youngest wrecks (<25 yr) have fewer holes than older wrecks, suggesting a relationship between wreck age and excavation activity. Conversely, the size of a wreck does not appear to control the sediment turnover activity. Holes are comparatively long-lived, and some of them are actively maint...
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