Geologists Seamounts

Geologists Seamounts
Bathymetric map of the south-west Geologists Seamounts
Geologists Seamounts is located in Pacific Ocean
Geologists Seamounts
Location within Pacific Ocean
Location
LocationNorth Pacific Ocean
Coordinates18°40′N 157°40′W / 18.667°N 157.667°W / 18.667; -157.667
Geology
Age of rockCretaceous

Geologists Seamounts (alternatively were named South West Hawaii Group) are a cluster of seamounts in the Pacific Ocean, located mainly 100 miles (160 km) south of Oahu, Hawaii and 100–200 kilometres (62–124 mi) south-west from Big Island (Hawaiʻi). Clockwise from north they are named Perret, Jaggar, McCall, Pensacola, Daly, Swordfish, Cross, Washington and Ellis. The Kauluakalana seamount to the north of Oahu on the far side of the Hawaiian chain to the other seamounts of the cluster, and south-east of the Musicians Seamounts has reason to be regarded as part of the Geologists Seamounts, but would not so be grouped logically by the former name for the cluster.

Geology

The mountains have a height above seafloor of about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). They developed on a mid-ocean ridge during the Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago, and there is no geological relationship to the neighbouring Hawaiian Islands. There is about contemporaneous timing with the formation of the Musicians Seamounts to the north-west of Oahu and Hawaiʻi, from the limited sampling and analysis to date. Ages that have been obtained include 80.5 Ma for Kauluakalana, 84.5 Ma for Cross and 82.7 Ma for McCall. Rocks dredged from the seamounts include iron-manganese crusts, carbonates and basalts.

Ecology

Corals and sponges have been recorded at the south-western Swordfish Seamount at a depth of 1,071 m (3,514 ft) with plexauridae, alcyonacea, and coralliidae corals. The deeper coral community on Ellis Seamount at a depth of 2,135 m (7,005 ft) was less diverse with bamboo corals dominant, but coverage is still widespread.

References

  1. 1 2 Kelley et al. 2020, p. 5.
  2. ↑ Wessel, P.; Keating, B. H. (10 February 1994). "Temporal variations of flexural deformation in Hawaii". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 99 (B2): 2751. Bibcode:1994JGR....99.2747W. doi:10.1029/93JB02876.
  3. ↑ Elliott, Kelley (2015). "Project instruction for EX-15-04 Leg 3 : CAPSTONE NWHI Exploration, Leg III". NOAA: 3. doi:10.7289/V5DB7ZVQ. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 Wessel, P.; Lyons, S. (10 October 1997). "Distribution of large Pacific seamounts from Geosat/ERS-1: Implications for the history of intraplate volcanism". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 102 (B10): 22467. Bibcode:1997JGR...10222459W. doi:10.1029/97JB01588.
  5. ↑ Wessel 1998, p. 403.
  6. ↑ "APPLICATION BRIEFS 2008" (PDF). University of Hawaii. 2008. p. 15. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 Clouard, V.; Bonneville, A. (2005). "Ages of seamounts, islands, and plateaus on the Pacific plate" (PDF). In Foulger, G.R.; Natland, J.H.; Presnall, D.C.; Anderson, D.L. (eds.). Plates, plumes, and paradigms:Geological Society of America Special Paper 388. Geological Society of America. pp. 71–90. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2388-4.71. ISBN 978-0-8137-2388-4. Retrieved 25 January 2024.pp=78, 84, 85
  8. ↑ Boston, Brian; Shillington, Donna J.; Watts, Anthony B.; Cilli, Philip; Dunn, Robert; Ito, Garrett; Wessel, Paul; ten Brink, Uri (June 2025). "Crustal Structure Along and Surrounding the Hawaiian Islands: Volcanic Island Construction Across Scarred Oceanic Crust". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 130 (6): 4. doi:10.1029/2024JB030377.
  9. ↑ Wessel 1998, p. 405.
  10. ↑ Hillier, J. K. (February 2007). "Pacific seamount volcanism in space and time". Geophysical Journal International. 168 (2): 877–889. Bibcode:2007GeoJI.168..877H. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03250.x. ISSN 0956-540X.
  11. ↑ Kelley et al. 2020, pp. 24, 35.
  12. ↑ Sowers et al. 2020, p. 14.
  13. 1 2 Kelley et al. 2020, pp. 24, 33.
  14. ↑ Sowers et al. 2020, p. 15.

Sources