Kim SS (2010) Remote sensing of seamounts: a geophysical study of lithospheric bending, seamount statistics and intraplate volcanism, PhD thesis, University of Hawaii at Mānoa Seamounts and ocean shelves produce significant amounts of volcanically elastic sediment deposited both in these volcanic structures and over a large area of the surrounding sediment-covered seabed (Staudigel and Clague, 2010). The change of volcanically elastic sediments plays a key role in the geochemical mass balance of seamounts, and these sediments are also likely to have a significant influence on the geochemistry of surrounding sediments and their chemical exchange with seawater. Straub and Schmincke (1998) estimated that volcanically elastic sediments form about one-fifth of all marine sediments, including volcanically elastic sediments produced by seamounts and arc volcanoes. The water-rock interaction in volcanically elastic marine sediments on the seabed remains largely unexplored and is therefore ignored in the mass balances of seabed change processes. However, they are likely to play an important role in the geochemistry of seawater, like other ocean sediments. Seamounts are often found near the boundaries of Earth`s tectonic plates and the central plate near hot spots. In the middle of the ocean ridges, the plates spread apart and magma rises to fill in the gaps. Near the subduction zones, the plates collide, forcing the oceanic crust into the earth`s warm interior, where this crust material melts, forming magma that floats to the surface and erupts to create volcanoes and seamounts. Seamounts also form in hot spots, isolated areas within tectonic plates where magma plumes rise through the crust and erupt on the seabed, often creating chains of volcanoes and seamounts, such as the Hawaiian Islands.
Seamounts provide habitat and spawning grounds for these large animals, including many fish. Some species, including the black oreo (Allocyttus niger) and the black-striped cardinal fish (Apogon nigrofasciatus), have been found to be more common on seamounts than anywhere else on the seabed. Marine mammals, sharks, tuna and cephalopods all congregate on seamounts for food, as well as some species of seabirds when the features are particularly shallow. [5] Scientists estimate that there are at least 100,000 seamounts over 1,000 meters in the world. These provide a solid foundation for living in the depths of the sea to settle and grow. In addition, seamounts that rise into the ocean create obstacles that shape ocean currents and direct deep, nutrient-rich water to the sloping sides of seamounts to the surface. These factors make seamounts fertile habitats for various communities of marine life, including sponges, crabs, sea anemones, commercially important fish, and deep-sea corals. Unlike shallow-water corals, whose growth relies on photosynthetic algae and sunlight, deep-water corals receive energy by filtering organic matter that falls from the surface. Seamounts are a possible future source of economically important metals.
Although the ocean accounts for 70% of the Earth`s surface, technological challenges have severely limited the scale of offshore mining. But with the ever-dwindling supply of land, some mining specialists see ocean mining as the predestined future, and seamounts stand out as candidates. [38] Koppers AP, Watts AB (2010) Intraplate seamounts as a window into deep earth processes. Oceanography 23(1):42–57 Weigel W, Grevemeyer I (1999) The Great Meteor seamount: seismic structure of a submerged intraplate volcano. J Geodyn 28:27-40 Many seamounts show signs of intrusive activity that can lead to inflation, the slope of volcanic slopes, and eventually the collapse of the flank. [11] There are also several subclasses of seamounts. The first are guyots, seamounts with a flat top. These peaks must be 200 m (656 ft) or more below the sea surface; The diameters of these flat peaks can be greater than 10 km (6.2 miles). [18] The Knolls are isolated high-rise peaks that measure less than 1,000 metres (3,281 feet). After all, the ramparts are small columnar seamounts.
[5] Although they are often hidden under the ocean (often making them a danger to navigation, especially to submarines), seamounts are nevertheless ubiquitous and have basic geological features; His studies give us insight into the forces that have shaped the face of our planet. Forged and altered by volcanic and tectonic processes closely linked to the deep Earth, they are also targeted by mining companies hoping to harvest the minerals that often accumulate around seamounts as a result of hydrothermal activity. Isolated seamounts and those with no clear volcanic origin are rarer; Examples include Bollon Seamount, Eratosthenes Seamount, Axial Seamount and Gorringe Ridge. [8] Seamounts are the most abundant type of volcano and the least studied physiographic features on Earth. Far less than one percent of these have been studied in detail, but these limited studies have nonetheless contributed significantly to our understanding of seamounts and a number of broader and socially critical important issues. As active volcanoes, seamounts have major societal impacts, ranging from navigation barriers and explosive volcanism to tsunamogenous landslides and collapses of seamount flanks. The subduction of seamounts is associated with some of the largest earthquakes. Seamounts are also recognized as a crucial factor in mixing oceans by acting as stirring rods that help mix heavily stratified oceans. In the life sciences, seamounts are used as microbial observatories for Fe-oxidizing microbes and their benthic communities are studied for processes such as the spread, isolation and evolution of benthic organisms. In recent decades, seamounts have been important fishing grounds and a valuable source of protein for a rapidly growing global population.However, overfishing has led to habitat destruction and justifies global conservation efforts to harvest fish sustainably. In the future, seamounts could provide an indispensable resource for high-tech metals such as Te, which are essential in the semiconductor industry, photovoltaic manufacturing and telecommunications equipment. Most economically significant seamounts are located outside territorial waters, so they are subject to international agreements under the law of the sea. Perhaps the most ecologically studied seamount in the world is Davidson Seamount, with six major expeditions recording more than 60,000 species sightings. The contrast between the Seeberg and the surrounding area was well developed. [21] One of the most important ecological refuges on the Seeberg is its coral garden on the high seas, and many specimens found were more than a century old. [19] After expanding knowledge about the seamount, there has been significant support to make it a marine protected area, an application approved in 2008 as part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. [32] Much of what is ecologically known about seamounts is based on Davidson`s observations. [19] [27] Another such seamount of this type is Bowie Seamount, which has also been declared a marine reserve by Canada because of its ecological richness. [33] Seamounts can therefore be important stopping points for some migratory animals, particularly whales.
Some recent research suggests that whales may use features such as aids to navigation throughout their migration. [26] For a long time, it was thought that many pelagic animals also traveled to seamounts to collect food, but evidence of this aggregation effect was lacking. The first demonstration of this hypothesis was published in 2008. [27] There are more seamounts in the Pacific Ocean than in the Atlantic, and their distribution can be described as encompassing several elongated chains of seamounts superimposed on a more or less random bottom distribution. [6] Seamount ranges are found in the three main ocean basins, with the Pacific having the largest and most extensive seamount ranges. These include the Hawaiian Seamounts (Emperors), Mariana, Gilbert, Tuomotu and Austral (and archipelagos) in the North Pacific and the Louisville and Sala y Gomez Ridges in the South Pacific. In the North Atlantic, the seamounts of New England stretch from the east coast of the United States to the mid-ocean ridge. Craig and Sandwell[6] noted that larger clusters of Atlantic seamounts tend to be associated with other evidence of hotspot activity, such as Walvis Ridge, Bermuda, and Cape Verde.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and ridges that extend into the Indian Ocean are also associated with abundant seamounts. [7] Otherwise, seamounts tend not to form characteristic chains in the Indian and Southern Oceans, but their distribution seems to be more or less random. This image shows the topography of The Kaunana Seamount. The seamount was named in honor of the remote-controlled REL vehicle Deep Discoverer for its role in discoveries during an expedition to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The colors represent the depth of the water in meters, as defined in the color key. Source: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Hohonu Moana. Hillier JK, Watts AB (2007) Global distribution of seamounts from bathymetric data of ship trajectories. Geophys Res Lett 34, L13304. doi:10.1029/2007GL029874 Earth`s oceans contain more than 14,500 identified seamounts[3], of which 9,951 seamounts and 283 guyots with a total area of 8,796,150 km2 (3,396,210 square miles) have been mapped[4], but few have been studied in detail by scientists.
Seamounts and guyots are the most common in the North Pacific and follow a distinctive evolutionary pattern of eruption, accumulation, subsidence and erosion. In recent years, several active seamounts have been observed, for example Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi) in the Hawaiian Islands.