Fine-Scale Hydrodynamics and Benthic Food Supply at Atlantic Seamounts and Cold-Water Coral Mounds.

Seamounts and cold-water coral mounds are widespread deep-sea topographic features that provide habitats for unique benthic communities and locally enhance organic matter flux driven by interactions with ocean currents. These interactions generate fine-scale hydrodynamic phenomena like Taylor caps, internal waves, and turbulent mixing, which increase vertical transport of organic matter and enhance food availability in otherwise often food-limited environments. We present results from high-resolution hydrodynamic models that integrate high-resolution bathymetry with basin-scale and tidal forcing. This approach allows us to examine near-bottom currents in fine detail and to identify the physical drivers that influence food delivery to benthic communities. In particular, we focus on how these processes shape the distribution of filter and suspension filter feeders on Atlantic seamounts and cold-water coral mounds. Our findings reveal strong links between large-scale ocean currents, internal tide dynamics, and benthic faunal distribution. We identify key physical oceanographic indicators, such as internal wave dynamics and kinetic energy dissipation rates, as potential proxies for food supply and particle encounter rates in future species distribution and habitat suitability models. Overall, we aim to advance our understanding of the bio-physical coupling that sustains deep-sea biodiversity and provides a foundation for predicting the distribution of vulnerable species and ecosystems in data poor deep-sea regions and seamount environments.