Defining the Word "Seamount"

Staudigel, Hubert; Koppers, A. A.; Lavelle, J. W.; Pitcher, Tony J.; Shank, Timothy M.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2010.85

Cited by 77 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…However, the term ‘seamount’ has been defined inconsistently in various studies due to the specific interests in a field of research or limitations of the data used in a study (Menard 1964; Jordan et al 1983; White et al 1983; Wessel & Lyons 1997; Wessel et al 2010). A recent attempt to include diverse views on seamounts within multidisciplinary research communities describes seamounts as ‘any geographically isolated topographic features on the seafloor taller than 100 m, including ones whose summit regions may temporarily emerge above sea level, but not including features that are located on continental shelves or that are part of other major landmasses’ (Staudigel et al 2010). The automatic tagging within the SEZs, the manual tagging of volcanic ridges, and the height threshold make our potential seamount count more compatible with modern terminology than those of previous studies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New global seamount census from altimetry-derived gravity data

Kim¹,

Wessel²

2011

Geophysical Journal International

124

128

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S U M M A R YRecent revisions to the satellite-derived vertical gravity gradient (VGG) data reveal more detail of the ocean bottom and have allowed us to develop a non-linear inversion method to detect seamounts in VGG data. We approximate VGG anomalies over seamounts as sums of individual, partially overlapping, elliptical polynomial functions, which allows us to form a non-linear inverse problem by fitting the polynomial model to the observations. Model parameters for a potential seamount include geographical location, peak VGG amplitude, major and minor axes of the elliptical base, and the azimuth of the major axis. The non-linear inversion is very sensitive to the initial values for the location and amplitude; hence, they are constrained by the centre and amplitude of the uppermost contours obtained with a 1-Eötvös contour interval. With these initial conditions from contouring, we execute a step-wise and fully automated inversion and obtain optimal model estimates for potential seamounts; these are statistically evaluated for significance using the Akaike Information Criterion and F tests. A logarithmic barrier technique is applied to ensure positivity of all seamount amplitudes. After automatic and manual inspections of the model parameters we estimate actual heights and basal ellipses of the inspected potential seamounts directly from the predicted bathymetry grid. In this study, we find globally 24 643 potential seamounts (h ≥ 0.1 km) that are located away from continental margins; 8458 potential seamounts are taller than 1 km. Although our global estimate is significantly lower than predictions from previous studies, a first-order reconciliation of the size-frequency statistics obtained from those studies reveals that the previous counts are systematically overestimated. Because of the ambiguity of gravity signals due to small seamounts of h < 1 km and the overlap with abyssal hills, we estimate the global seamount census to lie in the 40 000-55 000 range. The seamount data from this study are accessible from http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PT/SMTS.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New global seamount census from altimetry-derived gravity data

Kim¹,

Wessel²

2011

Geophysical Journal International

124

128

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“…In this paper, the term ‘bank’ is used to indicate generically submarine reliefs, such as shallows, ridges, knolls and pinnacles, including the definition of seamounts, submarine elevations of volcanic origin defined by Staudigel et al [25] as: “any geographically isolated topographic feature on the seafloor taller than 100 m, including ones whose summit regions may temporarily emerge above sea level, but not including features that are located on continental shelves or that are part of other major landmasses”.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish Distribution and Habitat Complexity on Banks of the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea) from Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) Explorations

et al. 2016

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The Strait of Sicily was recognized internationally as an “Ecologically or Biologically Significant Area” by the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2014. However, basic aspects of its fish diversity are still unknown and most of the information comes from traditional trawl surveys. This paper provides the first detailed description, using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), of the composition and depth distribution of the demersal fish assemblages found on banks of the Strait of Sicily and the related habitat complexity from 35 to 240 m depth. A total of 24 families and 52 fish species were recorded and depth was consistently associated with a significant proportion of the variation of the fish assemblage. The highest species richness was observed at the shallowest depth layer (0–50 m) and significantly decreased, remaining almost constant, in deeper layers. Similarly the highest abundance was recorded at 0–50 m, where C. julis represented the most abundant species, and decreased progressively throughout the whole depth gradient. Although the factor habitat complexity explained only a small proportion of the fish assemblage variation, significant differences among different degrees of habitat complexity were observed, together with a general positive trend for species richness and abundance with increasing habitat complexity. The ROV also allowed us to observe some rare or poorly known fish species such as Scorpaenodes arenai, Hyporthodus haifensis, Myliobatis aquila, Gadella maraldi, Epinephelus caninus and Lappanella fasciata. These findings show that banks serve as reservoirs for fish abundance and biodiversity and that immediate environmental conservation and management actions represent a priority not only for Italy but also for other countries which share the same area.

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“…We adopt here a broad definition of a seamount as any geographically isolated topographic feature on the seafloor taller than 100 m including ones whose summit regions may temporarily emerge above sea level (Staudigel et al, 2010b). In this definition, seamounts may form in any plate tectonic setting, they may currently be buried beneath sediments on the seafloor, or they may now be exposed on land by tectonic and erosion processes.…”

Section: Definition Of the Term Seamountmentioning

confidence: 99%