Thoughts on controls on evolution and dispersal of benthos in the Magellan-Scotia Sea region: a workshop proposal

The Scotia Arc and the Scotia Sea comprise a geologically young feature of the Earth's surface that evolved over the last 40 million years (Ma) or so, between the southern tip of South America and the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. With the notable exception of the much younger South Sandwich Islands, the islands, banks and seamounts of the arc represent dispersed fragments of a previous continental link between southern South America (Magellan region) and the Antarctic Peninsula. The benthic marine shelf faunas of the region are the focus of the IBMANT (Investigacion Biolologica Marina en Magallanes relacionada con la Antartida) programme, and those of the surrounding oceanic deeps are the focus of ANDEEP (Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity). Elucidating the potential relationships between the faunas of the region and the profound geographical, oceanographic and climatic changes undergone by the region in later Cenozoic time is hampered by significant unknowns in the geological history, the expense of further geoscientific exploration to fill these, and a general lack of communication between the biological and geological science communities. It is suggested that the time is opportune for a truly multidisciplinary workshop at which all the involved science communities have much to gain from the others.Original Abstract: El Arco de Scotia y el Mar de Scotia tienen caracteristicas geologicas jovenes, que evolucionaron en los ultimos 40 millones de anos (Ma), a partir de los actuales Cono Sur de America del Sur y extremo septentrional de la Peninsula Antartica. Con la notable excepcion de las mucho mas jovenes Islas Sandwich del Sur, las islas, bancos y montes sumergidos del arco representan fragmentos dispersos de una conexion continental previa entre la parte austral de Sudamerica (region magallanica) y la Peninsula Antartica. La fauna marina bentonica de plataforma de la region ha sido el objetivo del programa IBMANT (Investigacion Biologica Marina en la Region Magallanica relacionada con la Antartida) y la concerniente con las profundidades oceanicas circundantes son el eje de estudio del ANDEEP (Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity). La dilucidacion de las relaciones potenciales entre las faunas de la region y los profundes cambios geograficos, oceanograficos y climaticos que sucedieron durante el Cenozoico tardio esta dificultada por significativos desconocimientos en la historia geologica, los costos de exploraciones cientificas adic