Chevillon Christophe auteur aut IRD Richer de Forges Bertrand auteur aut IRD text bookSection eng text/pdf reformatted digital access The South-Western lagoon of New Caledonia covers an area of 5550 sq.km. composed largely of soft bottoms. As part of the identification of the soft bottom biotopes of the New Caledonian lagoons that is being carried out, a study of the distribution of sediments and communities has also been undertaken. Sampling has been done with a 2 nautical miles grid, using a dredge for the benthos and a grab for the sediments. Mapping of the muds and a multivariate analysis have made it possible to define the sedimentological structure of these bottoms. A qualitative inventory of the benthic macrofauna communities has been drawn up in respect of the main zoological groups. Mud distribution is governed by the morphology of the shore, bathymetry and hydrodynamics. Sediments are divided according to two gradients, one relating to grain size, the other to siltation, which reflect a two-fold influence, from the land and from the reef. One of the main factors affecting the distribution of benthic communities is the mud content of the sediment, which influences the wealth of species and the composition of fauna specialized LAGON SEDIMENT FAUNE BENTHIQUE DISTRIBUTION SPATIALE CARTOGRAPHIE RELATION ESPECE ENVIRONNEMENT 036MILMAR02 128CARTO Choat J.H. ed. edt IRD Barnes D. ed. edt IRD Borowitzka, M.A. (ed.) Coll, J.C. ed. edt IRD Davies P.J. ed. edt IRD Flood, P. (ed.) Hatcher, B.G. ed. edt IRD Hopley D. ed. edt IRD Hutchings, P.A. (ed.) Kinsey, D. ed. edt IRD Orme G.R. ed. edt IRD Pichon M. ed. edt IRD Sale P.F. ed. edt IRD Sammarco P. ed. edt IRD Wallace, C.C. (ed.) Wilkinson, C. ed. edt IRD Wolanski E. ed. edt IRD Bellwood O. ed. edt IRD 589-594 Townsville International Coral Reef Symposium Executive Committee 1988 International Coral Reef Symposium, 6., Townsville, 1988/08/8-12 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:31225 0-7316-5607-5 [F B31225] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:31225 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_23-25/31225.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 1991-01-07 2006-05-30 fdi:31225 fre