Point Shapefile of Bottom Photographs Acquired in the Pulley Ridge area on Cruise SUN03002 (PHOTOPNTS.SHP)

Pulley Ridge is a series of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-100 m water depths. This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida. This barrier island chain formed during the initial stage of the Holocene marine transgression. These islands were then submerged and left abandoned near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This reef community is in unusually deep water, and its extent and the controls on its distribution were unknown. To address these questions scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program in cooperation with scientists from the University of South Florida Department of Marine Sciences have completed a detailed mapping of the southernmost 35 km of Pulley Ridge. The area was mapped using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiling to define the geologic framework on which the reef is established. Submersible dives, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, and transects of bottom photographs and video were collected to identify the corals and to map their distribution. This extensive suite of data has been compiled and preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the reefs are not tied to the ridge system, but instead are more broadly distributed. Whether reef distribution is controlled by oceanographic conditions or by subtle differences in the substrate that overlies the barrier island system is unclear, and are topics of continued research.

滑轮海脊（Pulley Ridge）是一系列沉没障壁岛，在60至100米水深区间内绵延近200千米。该沉没海脊位于墨西哥湾东南部的佛罗里达台地上，距佛罗里达州萨布尔角以西约250千米。这套障壁岛链形成于全新世海侵初期，随后被淹没并废弃在佛罗里达台地的外缘附近。
滑轮海脊的南部区域分布有具虫黄藻的石珊瑚、绿藻、红藻与褐藻等大型藻类，以及深水和典型浅水热带鱼类的混合种群。该礁体群落所处水深异乎寻常地深，其分布范围与控制因素此前尚未明确。
为解答上述科学问题，美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey）海岸与海洋地质项目组联合南佛罗里达大学海洋科学系的科研人员，完成了滑轮海脊最南端35千米区域的详细测绘工作。研究团队借助多波束测深、侧扫声呐影像与高分辨率地震反射剖面，明确了礁体发育的地质基底。此外，科研人员还通过载人潜水器下潜、遥控无人潜水器（ROV）剖面勘测，以及海底摄影与视频采样，对珊瑚种类及其分布进行了识别与制图。
该套大规模数据集已完成整合，初步分析结果显示，礁体并非局限于该海脊系统内，而是分布范围更广。目前尚不清楚礁体分布是受海洋水文条件控制，还是受覆于障壁岛系统之上的基底细微差异影响，该问题仍需开展持续研究。