Seamounts – characteristics, formation, mineral deposits and biodiversity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/105.000001758Keywords:
Seamounts, Distribution, Origin, Influence on Marine SystemsAbstract
Seamounts represent crust-mantle activities and are areas of petrological deviations, biodiversity, seismicity and hydrothermal events. An estimated ~50 million tons/year of basalts are required to produce seamounts suggesting intense oceanic volcanism. Seamounts either occur as chains perpendicular to the ridge or as isolated entities or in clusters. Seamounts may host basalts, hyaloclastites, gabbros and serpentinites and these variants perhaps evolve from multiple melting domains as a consequence of large-scale thermal structure and mantle lithology. Nonhotspot seamounts on a young, thin and hot lithosphere host tholeiites whereas the plume related ones on thick, older lithosphere may be either tholeiitic or alkaline. Seamounts may bear hydrothermal deposits (Fe, Mn, Co) rare metals and phosphorites. The resistance of seamounts to subduction could trigger slides; while shearing of seamounts buried in subduction zones leads to seismicity, both of which could cause tsunamis. Seamounts greatly affect the circulation patterns and currents, which in turn influence the surrounding biota. We review here the seamounts in terms of discovery, characteristics, distribution and their influence on the marine environment.
References
Abercrombie, R.E., Antolik, M., Felzer, K., Ekstroem, G., 2001. The 1994 Java tsunami earthquake: Slip over a subducting seamount. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106, 6595-6607.
Alt, J.C., Lonsdale, P., Haymon, R., Muehlenbachs, K., 1987. Hydrothermal sulfide and oxide deposits on seamounts near 21o N, East Pacific Rise. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 98, 157-168.
Aumento, F., 1969. Diorites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45ON. Science, 165, 1112-1113.
Baker, E.T., German, C.R., 2004. On the global distribution of hydrothermal vent fields. In: German, C.R., Lian, J., Parsons, L.M. (eds.). Mid-Ocean Ridges: Hydrothermal Interactions between the Lithosphere and Oceans. Washington D.C., American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monograph Series, 148, 245-266.
Baker, E.T., Fox, C.G., Cowen, J.P., 1999. In situ observations of the onset of hydrothermal discharge during the 1998 Submarine eruption of Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge. Geophysical Research Letters, 26, 3445-3448. doi: 10.1029/1999GL002331
Banakar, V.K., Hein, J.R., Rajani, R.P., Chodankar, A.R., 2007. Platinum group elements and gold in ferromanganese crusts from Afanasiy–Nikitin seamount, equatorial Indian Ocean: Sources and fractionation. Journal of Earth System Sciences, 116, 3-13.
Basu, S., Gairola, R.M., Pande, P.C., 1994. Remote sensing of seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin using satellite altimetry. Remote Sensing Reviews, 9, 187-202.
Batiza, R., 1982. Abundances, distribution and sizes of volcanoes in the Pacific ocean and implications for the origin of the nonhotspot volcanoes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 60, 195-206.
Batiza, R., 2001. Seamounts and off-ridge volcanism. In: Steele, J.H., Turekian, K.K., Thorpe, S.A. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. San Diego, Academic Press, 5, 2696-2708.
Batiza, R., Vanko, D., 1983. Volcanic development of small oceanic central volcanoes on the flanks of the East Pacific Rise inferred from narrow–beam echosounder surveys. Marine Geology, 54, 53-90.
Batiza, R., Fornari, D.J., Vanko, D.A., Lonsdale, P., 1984. Craters, calderas, and hyaloclastites on young pacific seamounts. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 8371-8390.
Bideau, D., Hekinian, R., 2004. Intraplate gabbroic rock debris ejected from the magma chamber of the Macdonald seamount (Austral hotspot): comparison with other provinces. In:
Hekinian, R., Stoffers, P., Cheminée, J.L. (eds.). Oceanic hotspots, intraplate submarine magmatism and tectonism. Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 309-348.
Binard, N., Hekinian, R., Cheminée, J. L., Stoffers, P., 1992. Styles of eruptive activity on intraplate volcanoes in the Society and Austral hot spot regions: bathymetry, petrology and submersible observations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 197, 13,999-14,015.
Bonatti, E., 1967. Mechanism of deep sea volcanism in the south Pacific. In: Abelson, P.H. (ed.). Researches in Geochemistry. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2, 453-491.
Bonatti, E., Harrison, C.G.A., 1976. Hot lines in the Earth’s mantle. Nature, 263, 402-404.
Bonatti, E., Harrison, C.G.A., 1988. Eruption styles of basalt in oceanic spreading ridges and seamounts: effect of magma temperature and viscosity. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 2967-2980.
Bonatti, E., Harrison, C.G.A., Fisher, D.E., Honnorez, J., Schilling, J.-G., Stipp, J.J., Zentilli, M., 1977. Easter volcanic chain (Southeast Pacific): a mantle hot line. Journal of Geophysical Research, 82, 2457-2478.
Boström, K., Peterson, M.N.A., Joensuu, O., Fisher, D.E., 1969. Aluminum-poor ferromanganoan sediments on active ocean ridges. Journal of Geophysical Research, 74, 3261-3270.
Brewin, P.E., Stocks, K.I., Menzes, G., 2007. A history of seamount research. In: Pitcher, T.J., Morato, T., Hart, P.J.B., Clark, M.R., Haggan, N., Santos, R.S., (eds.). Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation., Fish and Aquatic Resources Series, United Kingdom, Blackwell, Oxford, 12, 41-61.
Bryan, C., Cooper, P., 1995. Ocean-bottom seismometer observations of seismic activity at Loihi Seamount, Hawaii. Marine Geophysical Researches, 17, 485-501.
Cazenave, A., Lago, B., Dominh, K., Lambeck, K., 1980. On the response of the ocean lithosphere to seamount loads from Geos 3 satellite radar altimeter observations. Geophysical
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 63, 233-252.
Clouard, V., Bonneville, A., 2001. How many Pacific hotspots are fed by deep-mantle plumes? Geology, 29, 695-698.
Clouard, V., Bonneville, A., Gillot, P.-Y., 2003. The Tarava Seamounts: a newly characterized hotspot chain on the South Pacific Superswell. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 207, 117-130.
Corliss, J.B., 1971. The origin of metal-bearing submarine hydrothermal solutions. Journal of Geophysical Research, 76, 8128-8138.
Craig, C.H., Sandwell, D.T., 1988. Global distribution of seamounts from seasat profiles. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 10408-10420.
Crisp, J.A., 1984. Rates of magma emplacement and volcanic output. Journal of Volcanological and Geothermal Research, 20, 177-211.
Das, P., Iyer, S.D., Kodagali, V.N., 2007. Morphological characteristics and emplacement mechanism of the seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. Tectonophysics, 443, 1-18.
de Forges, R.B., Koslow, J.A., Poore, G.C.B., 2000. Diversity and endemism of the benthic seamount fauna in the southwest Pacific. Nature, 405, 944-947.
Duffy, E.J., 2008. “Seamount”. CenSeam: a Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts (Content Partner) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Content source). In:
Cleveland, C.J. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Earth. Washington D.C., Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, first published in the Encyclopedia of Earth November 16, 2006 and Last revised December 9, 2008. Website: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Seamount.
Dziak, R.P., Fox, C.G., 1999. The January 1998 Earthquake Swarm at Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge: Hydroacoustic evidence of seafloor volcanic activity. Geophysical Research Letters, 26, 3429-3432.
Embley, R.W., Baker, E.T., Butterfield, D.A., Chadwick, W.W.Jr., Lupton, J.E., Resing, J.A., de Ronde, C.E.J., Nakamura, K.- I., Tunnicliffe, V., Dower, J.E., Merle, S.G., 2007. Exploring the submarine ring of fire: Mariana Arc–Western Pacific. Oceanography, 20, 68-79.
Emerson, D., Moyer, C.L., 2010. Microbiology of seamounts: common patterns observed in community structure. Oceanography, 23, 148-163.
Epp, D., Smoot, N.C., 1989. Distribution of seamounts in the North Atlantic. Nature, 337, 254-257.
Fornari, D.J., Ryan, W.B.F., Fox, P.J., 1984. The evolution of craters and calderas on young seamounts: Insights from sea Mark I and sea beam sonar surveys of a small seamount group near the axis of the East Pacific Rise at 10°N. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 11069-11083.
Fornari, D.J., Batiza, R., Allan, J.F., 1987. Irregularly shaped seamounts near the East Pacific Rise: Implications for seamount origin and rise axis processes. In: Keating, B.H., Fryer, P., Batiza, R., Boehlert, G.W. (eds.). Seamounts, islands and atolls. Geophysical Monograph, Washington D.C., American Geophysical Union, 43, 35-47.
Fouquet, Y., Knott, R., Cambon, P., Fallick, A., Rickard, D., Desbruyeres, D., 1996. Formation of large sulfide mineral deposits along fast spreading ridges. Example from offaxial deposits at 12o 43’N on the East Pacific Rise. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 144, 147-162.
Fujioka, K., Yamanaka, T., Gamo, T., Inagaki, F., Miwa, T., Sato, H., Okamoto, T., Oda, H., 2002. Serpentines as a capsule of the deep subsurface biosphere: Evidence from the Chamorro Seamount, Mariana forearc. Yokosuka, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Journal of Deep Sea Research, JAMSTEC Shinkai Kenkyu, 20, 9-16.
Gairola, R.M., Basu, S., Gautam, N., Pandey, P.C., Sushil Kumar., Agadi, V.V., Das, V.K., Desai, B.N., 1992. A geosat-derived noise spectrum for detecting seamounts in the Arabian Sea. New Delhi (India), Ocean Technology, Perspectives, Publication and Information Directorate, 507-515.
Gianni, M., 2003. Protecting the biodiversity of seamount ecosystems in the deep sea: the case for a global agreement for marine reserves on the high seas (64 of 699). Towards a Conservation of Nature, World Commission on Protected Areas, The World Wide Fund for Nature experts workshop on high seas marine protected areas, 156-163.
Haase, K.M., 1996. The relationship between the age of the lithosphere and the composition of oceanic magmas: Constraints on partial melting, mantle sources and the thermal structure of the plates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 144, 75-92.
Haney, J.C., Haury, L.R., Mullineaux, L.S., Fey, C.L., 1995. Seabird aggregation at a deep North Pacific seamount. Marine Biology, 123, 1-9.
Hein, J.R., Conrad, T.A., Staudigel, H., 2010. Seamount mineral deposits: a source of rare metals for high-technology industries. Oceanography, 23, 184-189.
Hekinian, R., Stoffers, P., Cheminée, J.L., 2004. Oceanic hotspots, intraplate submarine magmatism and tectonism. Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 480pp.
Herzig, P.M., Petersen, S., Hannington, M.D., 1999. Epithermal type gold mineralisation at Conical Seamount: a shallow submarine volcano south of Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea. In: Stanley, C.J. (ed.). Mineral deposits: process to processing. London, Proceedings of the fifth biennial Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, meeting and the tenth Quadrennial International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits symposium, London, 527-530.
Hillier, J.K., 2007. Pacific seamount volcanism in space and time. Geophysical Journal International, 168, 877-889.
Hiller, J.K., Watts, A.B., 2007. Global distribution of seamounts from ship-track bathymetry data. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L13304. doi: 10.1029/ 2007GL029874
Hollister, C.D., Glenn, M.F., Lonsdale, P.F., 1978. Morphology of seamounts in the western pacific and Philippine Basin from multi-beam sonar data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 41, 405-418.
Ingole, B.S., Iyer, S.D., 2006. Biogeographic distribution of benthic fauna associated with the Central Indian Ocean Basin seamounts. Pune (India), January 30-February 2, Symposium on National biodiversity and ecosystem information infrastructure, challenges and potentials, National Chemical Laboratory, Abstract.
Ishizuka, O., Yuasa, M., Usui, A., 1998. Low temperature hydrothermal activity on a back-arc seamount of the IzuOgasawara Arc-Submersible survey of the Nishi-Jokyo Seamount. Yokosuka, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology , Journal of Deep Sea Research, JAMSTEC Shinkai Kenkyu, 14, 245-268.
Ishizuka, O., Yuasa, M., Uto, K., 2002. Evidence of porphyry copper-type hydrothermal activity from a submerged remnant back-arc volcano of the Izu-Bonin arc Implications for the volcanotectonic history of back-arc seamounts. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 198, 381-399.
Iyer, S.D., 2009. Seamounts- their formation, mineral deposits, biodiversity and atmospheric oxygen. Geo-Spectrum Interface, 4, 33-36.
Iyer, S.D., Das, P., 2005. Petrological enigmas concerning seamounts: opening the Pandora’s box. Workshop on Igneous petrology, twenty first perspective18 February 2005, University of Calcutta, Kolkata (India), Abstract.
Iyer, S.D., Ray, D., 2003. Structure, tectonic and petrology of mid-oceanic ridges and the Indian scenario. Current Science, 85, 277-289.
Jones, E.J.W., BouDagher-Fadel, M.K., Thirlwall, M.F., 2002. An investigation of seamount phosphorites in the eastern Equatorial Atlantic. Marine Geology, 183, 143-162.
Keating, B.H., Fryer, P., Batiza, R., Boehlert, G.W., 1987. Seamounts, islands and atolls. Washington D.C., American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monograph, 43, 405pp.
Kitchingman, A., Lai, S., 2004. Inferences on potential seamount locations from mid-resolution bathymetric data. In: Morato, T., Pauly, D. (eds.). Seamount: Biodiversity and Fisheries. Vancouver B.C., University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre Research Reports, 12, 7-12.
Kitchingman, A., Lai, S., Morato, T., Pauly, D., 2007. How many seamounts are there and where are they located? In: Morato, T., Hart, P.J.B., Clark, M.J., Haggan, N., Santos, R.S. (eds.). Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation. Oxford (United Kingdom), Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation, Blackwell, Fish and Aquatic Resources Series, 12, 26-40.
Koppers, A.A.P., Watts, A.B., 2010. Intraplate seamounts as a window to deep earth processes. Oceanography, 23, 42-57.
Lavelle, J.W., Mohn, C., 2010. Motion, commotion, and biophysical communities at deep ocean seamounts. Oceanography, 23, 90-103.
Lisitzin, A.P., 1996. Oceanic sedimentation lithology and geochemistry. Washington D.C., American Geophysical Union, 400pp.
Lueck, R.G., Mudge, T.D., 1997. Topographically induced mixing around a shallow seamount. Science, 276, 1831-1833.
Lupton, J., Butterfield, D., Lilley, M., Evans, L., Nakamura, K.-I., Chadwick, W.Jr., Resing, J., Embley, R., Olson, E., Proskurowski, G., Baker E., de Ronde R., Roe K., Greene R., Lebon G., Young C., 2006. Submarine venting of liquid carbon dioxide on a Marian Arc volcano. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 7, Q08007. doi: 10.1029/ 2005GC001152
Maicher, D., White, J.D.L., Batiza, R., 2000. Sheet hyaloclastite: density-current deposits of quench and bubble-burst fragments from thin, glassy sheet lava flows, Seamount Six, Eastern Pacific Ocean. Marine Geology, 171, 75-94.
Malamud, B.D., Turcotte, D.L., 1999. How many plumes are there? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 174, 113-124.
Mehta, C., 2008. Seamounts of the global ocean basin: morphology, evolution and significance. Summer Internship report, National Institute of Oceanography, India, 103pp.
Menard, H.W., 1964. Marine geology of the Pacific. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 271pp.
Minniti, M., Bonavia, F.F., 1984. Copper-ore grade hydrothermal mineralization discovered in a sea-mount in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Mediterranean): Is the mineralization related to porphyrycopper or to base metal lodes? Marine Geology, 59, 271-282.
Morato, T., Pauly, D., 2004. Seamount: Biodiversity and Fisheries. Vancouver B.C., University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre Research Reports, 12(5), 1-78.
Morato, T., Pitcher, T.J., Clark, M.R., Menzes, G., Tempera, F., Porteiro, F., Giacomello, E., Santos, R.S., 2010. Can we protect seamounts for research: a call for conservation. Oceanography, 23, 190-199.
Morgan, W.J., 1972. Plate motions and deep mantle convection plumes. Geological Society America Memoir, 132, 7-22.
Morgan, W.J., 1978. Rodriguez, Darwin, Amsterdam, a second type of hotspot island. Journal of Geophysical Research, 83, 5355-5360.
Mullineaux, L.S., Mills, S.W., 1997. A test of the larval retention hypothesis in seamount-generated flows. Deep-Sea Research, 44, 745-770.
Pirajno, F., 1992. Hydrothermal mineral deposits: Principles and Fundamental Concepts for the Exploration Geologist. Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 709pp.
Pitcher, T.J., Morato, T., Hart, P.J.B., Clark, M.R., Haggan, N., Santos, R.S., 2007. Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation. Oxford (United Kingdom), Blackwell, Fish and Aquatic Resources Series, 12, 525pp.
Pruis, M.J., Johnson, H.P., 2004: Tapping into the sub-seafloor: examining diffuse flow and temperature from an active seamount on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 217, 379-388.
Rao, V.P.C., Lamboy, M., Natarajan, R., 1992. Possible microbial origin of phosphorites on Error Seamount, northwestern Arabian Sea. Marine Geology, 106, 149-164.
Richter, F.M., 1973. Convection and large–scale circulation of the mantle. Journal of Geophysical Research, 78, 8735-8745.
Richter, F.M., Parson, B., 1975. The interaction of two scales of convection in the mantle. Journal of Geophysical Research, 80, 2529-2541.
Rubin, K., 1997. Degassing of metals and metalloids from erupting seamount and mid-ocean ridge volcanoes: Observations and predictions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 3525-
Ruff, L.J., 1996. Seamounts make earthquakes. Nature, 381, 371-372.
Ryan, M.P., Koyanagi, R.Y., Fiske, R., 1981. Modeling the three-dimensional structure of macroscopic magma transport systems: Application to Kilauea, Hawaii. Journal of Geophysical Research, 86, 7111-7129.
Sandwell, D.T., Smith, W.H.F., 1997. Marine gravity anomaly from Geosat and ERS-1 satellite altimetry. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102, 10,039-10,054.
Scheirer, D.S., MacDonald, K.C., Forsyth, D.W., Shen, Y., 1996. Abundant seamounts of the Rano Rahi seamount field near the southern East Pacific Rise, 15oS to 19oS. Marine Geophysical Researches, 18, 13-52.
Schilling, J.G., Unni, C.K., Bender, M.L., 1978. Origin of chlorine and bromine in the oceans. Nature, 273, 631-636.
Schmincke, H.-U., 2004. Volcanism. Berlin, Springer-Verlag, 324pp.
Science Daily, 2007. Volcanoes. Key to Earth’s oxygen atmosphere. Science Daily, Sepember 3rd. Website: htt:sciencedaily.com
Smith, D.K., Jordan, T.H., 1988. Seamount statistics in the Pacific Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 2899-2918.
Sorokin, Y.I., 1987. Primary production in the Indian Ocean and the effect of seamounts on it. Oceanology, 27, 217-221.
Staudigel, H., Koppers, A.A.P., Plank, T.A., Hanan, B.B., 2010. Seamounts in the subduction factory. Oceanography, 23, 176-181.
Staudigel, H., Schmincke, H.-U., 1984. The Pliocene seamount series of La Palma (Canary Islands). Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 11195-11215.
Staudigel, H., Koppers, A.A.P., Lavelle, J.W., Pitcher, T.J., Shanks, T.M., 2010. Defining the word “seamount”. Oceanography, 23, 20-21.
Stocks, K., 2009. Seamounts Online: an online information system for seamount biology. Version 2009-1. World Wide Web electronic publication. Website: http://seamounts.sdsc.edu
Sours-Page, R., Nielsen, R.L., Batiza, R., 2002. Melt inclusions as indicators of parental magma diversity on the northern East Pacific Rise. Chemical Geology, 183, 237-261.
Villinger, H., Grevemeyer, I., Kaul, N., Hauschild, J., Pfender, M., 2002. Hydrothermal heat flux through aged oceanic crust: where does the heat escape? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 202, 159-170.
Vogt, P.R., Smoot, N.C., 1984. The Geisha guyots: Multibeam bathymetry and morphologic interpretation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 11,085-11,107.
Wessel, P., 1997. Sizes and ages of seamounts using remote sensing: implications for intraplate volcanism. Science, 277, 802-805.
Wessel, P., 2001. Global distribution of seamounts inferred from gridded Geosat/ERS-1 altimetry. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106, 19,431-19,441.
Wessel, P., Kroenke, L.W., 1998. The geometric relationship between hot spots and seamounts: Implications for Pacific hot spots. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 158, 1-8.
Wessel, P., Sandwell, D.T., Kim, S.S., 2010. The global seamount census. Oceanography, 23, 24-33.
Wheat, C.G., Jannasch, H.W., Plant, J.N., Moyer, C.L., Sansone, F.J., McMurtry, G.M., 2000. Continuous sampling of hydrothermal fluids from Loihi Seamount after the 1996 event. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105, 19,353-19,367.
Wilson, J.T., 1963. A possible origin of the Hawaiian islands. Canadian Journal of Physics, 41, 863-70.
Wilson, R.R., Kaufmann, R.S., 1987. Seamount biota and biogeography. Geophysical Monographs, 43, 355-377.
Yastrebov, V.S., Sagalevich, A.M., Omishchenko, E.L., 1981. Survey of the Red Sea floor with phototelevision systems. Oceanology, 21, 403-406.
Yesson, C., Clark, M.R., Taylor, M.L., Rogers, A.D., 2011. The global distribution of seamounts based on 30 arc seconds bathymetry data. Deep-Sea Research I, 58, 442-453.
Zindler, A., Hart, S.R. 1986. Chemical geodynamics. Annual Earth and Planetary Sciences, 14, 493-571.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 S.D. IYER, C.M. MEHTA, P. DAS, N.G. KALANGUTKAR
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Geologica Acta is the property of the UB, GEO3BCN, IDAEA and UAB. Geologica Acta must be cited for any partial or full reproduction. Papers are distributed under the Attribution-Share Alike Creative Commons License. This license allows anyone to reproduce and disseminate the content of the journal and even make derivative works crediting authorship and provenance and distributing possible derivative works under the same or an equivalent license.
Author Rights
Authors retain the copyright on their papers and are authorized to post them on their own web pages or institutional repositories. The copyright was retained by the journal from the year 2003 until 2009. In all cases, the complete citation and a link to the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the article must be included.
The authors can use excerpts or reproduce illustrations of their papers in other works without prior permission from Geologica Acta provided the source of the paper including the complete citation is fully acknowledged.
