Open Journal Systems

Manoel Luiz Reefs morphology unveiled by high resolution satellite images (North Brazilian Continental Shelf)

Gilberto Tavares de Macedo Dias, Rafael Cuellar de Oliveira e Silva, João Regis dos Santos Filho

Resumo


The reefs of Manoel Luiz are located 100 nautical miles N from the city of São Luís, capital of the State of Maranhão - Brazil. The region is practically unconquerable, due to the great concentration of shallow reef pinnacles; it has never been possible to map the area by traditional methods, due to the dangers to navigate. The images acquired in June 2018, by programmed WorldView-3 satellite (30 cm resolution), revealed for the first time the real and exuberant reef formation with innumerable constructions, predominantly individual with circular, or linear and coalescent format. The reefs of Manoel Luiz are not constructed by corals. Drop-camera videos shows that sparse colonies of corals are fixed on hard structures formed (covered) by superimposed crusts of calcareous algae. The location of Manoel Luiz reefs remained almost 300 years unknown to navigators, since the year 1500, attributed to the discovery of Brazil, until 1820, when it was described by the French hydrographer Adm. Baron de Roussin, and another 198 years to be precisely georeferenced and mapped.


Palavras-chave


remote sensing; Manuel Luís Parcel's Marine State Park; Coralline algae; Halimeda; underwater images

Texto completo:

PDF (English)

Referências


Amaral C.A.B. 1979. Recursos Minerais da Margem Continental Brasileira e das Áreas Oceânicas Adjacentes (relatório final). PETROBRÁS - REMAC 10, Rio de Janeiro, 112p.

Amaral F.D., Hudson M.M., Steiner A.Q., Ramos C.A.C. 2007. Corals and calcifed hydroids of the Manoel Luiz Marine State Park (State of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil). Biota Neotropica, 7(3):73-81. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032007000300008

Bastos A.C., Moura R.L., Moraes F.C., Vieira L.S., Braga J.C., Ramalho, L.V., Amado-Filho, G.M., Magdalena, U.R., Webster, J.M. 2018. Bryozoans are major modern builders of South Atlantic oddly shaped reefs. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 9638. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27961-6

Castro C.B., Pires D.O. 2001. Brazilian coral reefs: what we already know and what is still missing. Bulletin of Marine Science, 69(2): 357-371.

Cavalcante G.H. 2007. Processos oceanográficos na região costeira e estuarina do rio Caeté, Pará, Brasil. PhD Thesis. Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Departamento de Geoquímica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, 138p.

Collette B.B., Rützler K. 1977. Reef fishes over sponge bottoms off the mouth of the Amazon River. Proceedings, Third International Coral Reef Symposium, Miami, Florida: University of Miami. 305-310.

Coura M.F. 1994. Contribuição ao Plano de Manejo do Parque Estadual do Parcel de Manuel Luiz. Undergraduate Dissertation. Universidade Federal do Maranhão, 55p.

Francini-Filho R.B., Velásquez V.M., Silva M.B., Rosa M.R., Sumida P.Y.G., Pinheiro H.T., Rocha L.A., Ferreira C.E.L., Francini C.L.B., Rosa R.S. Brazil. 2019. In: Loya Y., Puglise K., Bridge T. (eds.) Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, Coral Reefs of the World 12, Springer, Cham, 163-198p. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92735-0_10

Milliman J.D. 1977. Role of Calcareous Algae in Atlantic Continental Margin Sedimentation. In: FLÜGEL E. (ed) Fossil Algae. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 232-247p. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66516-5_26

Monteiro L.H.U. 2011. Feições superficiais da plataforma continental cearense entre o litoral de Fortaleza e Icapuí. PhD Thesis. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 181p.

Moura R.L., Martins Rodrigues M.C., Francini-Filho R.B., Sazima I. 1999. Unexpected richness of reef corals near the southern Amazon River mouth. Coral Reefs 18, 170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003380050175

Moura R.L., Amado-Filho G.M., Moraes F.C., Brasileiro P.S., Salomon P.S., Mahiques M.M., Bastos A.C., Almeida M.G., Silva Jr J.M., Araujo B.F. et al 2016. An extensive reef system at the Amazon River Mouth. Science Advances 2(4) e1501252. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501252

Palma J.J.C. 1979. Geomorfologia da Plataforma Continental Norte Brasileira. In: Chaves H.A.F. (ed) Geomorfologia da Margem Continental Brasileira e das Áreas Oceânicas Adjacentes. PETROBRÁS - REMAC 7, Rio de Janeiro, 25-51p.

Paulay G. 1997. Diversity and distribution of reef organisms. In: Birkeland C. (ed) Life and death of coral reefs. Chapman and Hall, New York, 298-353p.

Roussin A.R. 1845. Le pilote du Brésil ou description des côtes de l’Ámérique Méridionale comprises entre l’lîle Santa-Catharina et celle de Maranhaõ. Avec les instructions nécessaires pour atterrir et naviguer sur ces cotes. Paris: Imprimerie Royale. Seconde Edition. 269p




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/abequa.v12i1.76577