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For thousands of old age — perhaps C of thou — a hefty coral reef has stretched across the seafloor in the Atlantic Ocean , near the southeasterly part of the U.S. And its world remained a well - hidden enigma until a recent deep - sea jaunt brought the fly high ecosystem to illumination .
scientist on board the inquiry vas ( RV ) Atlantis discovered the Witwatersrand last week , about 160 mile ( 257 kilometers ) off the coast of Charleston , South Carolina , the HuffPostreported . Cameras on a submersible deploy from Atlanis — the homo - go vehicle ( HOV ) Alvin — enchant the unexpected survey of obtuse , cold - pee coral populations seeding the sea bottom about 0.5 mi ( 0.8 km ) below the sea airfoil .
Alvin, a submersible deployed by the research vehicle Atlantis, collects a sample of Lophelia pertusa from an extensive mound of both dead and living coral.
The site was covered with living coral — " just mountains of it " — growing atop the monolithic , skeletal cadaver of dead corals that had likely been inhabiting the surface area for millennia , expedition lead scientist Erik Cordes , an associate prof in the Department of Biology at Temple University in Philadelphia , told the HuffPost . [ In photograph : dive in a Twilight Coral Reef ]
Scientists used Alvin to search the reef and collect coral samples during nosedive on Aug. 23 and Aug. 24 , according to the HuffPost . The researchers attain voluminous amounts ofLophelia pertusa , a branching , whitish precious coral that prefer cold H2O and that has antecedently been found growingat record depthsin the Gulf of Mexico .
While tropical coral typically trust on symbiotic algae to survive , L. pertusadoes not , and it uses stinging tentacles to daze its prey and guide food into its stomach , according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA ) .
The submersible Alvin is lowered into the water, where swimmers will disconnect the lines and communicate with the pilot inside to ensure that the sub is ready for descent.
coral notice by the Atlantis were found about 16 miles ( 26 kilometre ) to the northwest of corals happen before this summertime by the NOAA RVOkeanos Explorer , which was mapping hundreds of seamounts on the ocean floor , HuffPost reported . Together , the coral - covered orbit explored by Okeanos and the Atlantis stretch for an estimated 85 miles ( 137 klick ) , layer with enormous , rocky piles of bushed precious coral that likely accumulated over many one thousand of years , Cordes told HuffPost .
The RV Atlantis embark on its 15 - day despatch on Aug. 19 , part of a 4.5 - year collaborative projection know as the Deep Sea Exploration and Research of Coral / Canyon / Cold seep Habitats ( Deep SEARCH ) , according to themission internet site .
Until Sept. 2 , scientist on the Atlantis will exploredeep - ocean habitatsnear the southeast coastal U.S. They will collect critical data on the statistical distribution of ecosystem and wildlife of the sea bottom in ordering to more accurately predict how these frail communities could be disrupted by human activity , NOAA reported on the Deep SEARCH internet site .
Original clause onLive Science .
