2 Paleoecology of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals

Atlantic-type scleractinian cold-water corals occur in the Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin. Most fossil evidence on-land is Early Pleistocene in age, and occurs in peninsular Italy, Sicily and on some Greek islands, whilst submerged situations are by large late Pleistocene. According to circumstances, the mode of preservation of fossil cold-water coral varies sensibly (from loose corals to micritic limestones) what affects the level of confidence of the paleoecological reconstruction. All known situations point about a bathyal setting for such coldwater coral hosting deposits in the Mediterranean basin, but under many respects the geological record of coldwater coral paleoenvironments is yet largely underworked. Research developments are discussed, with special emphasis on the widespread submarine occurrences which prevail over the on-land cold-water coral legacy.