Invasive Species in the Argentinian Coast

Abstract

The Northern Argentine Sea is part of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, extending from ~35°S to 42°S. The continental shelf is with a very low relief and a general slope of less than 0.01 degree (Cavallotto, Violante, & Hernández-Molina, 2011). Argentina’s continental margin is longer than 3500km, with an average width of ~400km (Preu, Hernández-Molina, Violante, Piola, et al., 2013). It originated during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (c.140My ago), when the opening of the South Atlantic took place (Marcovecchio, De Marco, & Melo, 2017). The width of the shelf within this area varies from ~140km in the northern area of Río de La Plata outfall, to ~540km at San Matías Gulf (SMG), with maximum depth of 70–80m, reaching ~200m at the shelf edge, to ~160m within the SMG (Mouzo, 2014)...