Submarine relief map of the marine ecosystems in the Mexican Caribbean: Cabo Catoche - Xcalak

The map represents the spatial distribution of the submarine relief in shallow waters of the Mexican Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, from Cabo Catoche to Xcalak, in an area of 1001 km², with an average maximum depth of 18 m. It was generated from the analysis of satellite bathymetry resulting from the processing of 23 WorldView-2 satellite images (2009-2015), and with information from in-situ bathymetric soundings. A classification in two hierarchical orders was defined: the first represents the continental shelf in two terrace levels: (A) first level and (B) second level; and the second order considers erosional, accretionary and organic accretion forms: (A1) lagoon floor, (A2) back reef, (A3) reef crest, (A4) fore reef, and (A5) rocky ridge. The information is presented in shapefile format. This product is the result of the ArrecifeSAM project, coordinated by CONABIO as part of the Marine-Coastal Information and Analysis System (SIMAR) (https://simar.conabio.gob.mx).

The authors acknowledge the logistical and technical support provided by National Financial Trust Fund for Biodiversity, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), National Commission of Natural Protected Areas Mexico (CONANP) and National Autonomous University of Mexico - UNAM (Marine Science and Limnology Institute UASA-ICMyL-UNAM).