The Global Seamount Census

被引:244
作者
Wessel, Paul [1 ]
Sandwell, David T. [2 ]
Kim, Seung-Sep [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Hawaii, Sch Ocean & Earth Sci & Technol, Dept Geol & Geophys, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
[2] Univ Calif San Diego, Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE; SATELLITE ALTIMETRY; PACIFIC-OCEAN; BATHYMETRY; RESOLUTION; VOLCANISM; FLOOR; ABUNDANCES; ORIGIN; FLANKS;
D O I
10.5670/oceanog.2010.60
中图分类号
P7 [海洋学];
学科分类号
0707 ;
摘要
Seamounts are active or extinct undersea volcanoes with heights exceeding similar to 100 m. They represent a small but significant fraction of the volcanic extrusive budget for oceanic seafloor and their distribution gives information about spatial and temporal variations in intraplate volcanic activity. In addition, they sustain important ecological communities, determine habitats for fish, and act as obstacles to Currents, thus enhancing tidal energy dissipation and ocean mixing. Mapping the complete global distribution will help constrain models of seamount formation as well as aid in understanding marine habitats and deep ocean circulation. Two approaches have been used to map the global seamount distribution. Depth soundings from single- and multibeam echosounders can provide the most detailed maps with up to 200-m horizontal resolution. However, soundings from the > 5000 publicly available cruises sample only a small fraction of the ocean floor. Satellite altimetry can detect seamounts taller than similar to 1.5 km, and. studies using altimetry have produced seamount catalogues holding almost 13,000 seamounts. Based on the size-frequency relationship for larger seamounts, we predict over 100,000 seamounts > 1 km in height remain uncharted, and speculatively 25 million > 100 m in height. Future altimetry missions could improve on resolution and significantly decrease noise levels, allowing for an even larger number of intermediate (1-1.5-km height) seamounts to be detected. Recent retracking of the radar altimeter waveforms to improve the accuracy of the gravity field has resulted in a twofold increase in resolution. Thus, improved analyses of existing altimetry with better calibration from multibeam bathymetry could also increase census estimates.
引用
收藏
页码:24 / 33
页数:10
相关论文
共 40 条
[1]   SEAMOUNT ABUNDANCES AND DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC [J].
ABERS, GA ;
PARSONS, B ;
WEISSEL, JK .
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, 1988, 87 (1-2) :137-151
[2]   ABUNDANCES, DISTRIBUTION AND SIZES OF VOLCANOS IN THE PACIFIC-OCEAN AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ORIGIN OF NON-HOTSPOT VOLCANOS [J].
BATIZA, R .
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, 1982, 60 (02) :195-206
[3]   Global Bathymetry and Elevation Data at 30 Arc Seconds Resolution: SRTM30_PLUS [J].
Becker, J. J. ;
Sandwell, D. T. ;
Smith, W. H. F. ;
Braud, J. ;
Binder, B. ;
Depner, J. ;
Fabre, D. ;
Factor, J. ;
Ingalls, S. ;
Kim, S-H. ;
Ladner, R. ;
Marks, K. ;
Nelson, S. ;
Pharaoh, A. ;
Trimmer, R. ;
Von Rosenberg, J. ;
Wallace, G. ;
Weatherall, P. .
MARINE GEODESY, 2009, 32 (04) :355-371
[4]   Global estimates of seafloor slope from single-beam ship soundings [J].
Becker, Joseph J. ;
Sandwell, David T. .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS, 2008, 113 (C5)
[5]  
Carron M. J., 2001, Int. Hydrographic Rev., V2, P49
[6]   Seamount volcanism along the Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean [J].
Cochran, James R. .
GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, 2008, 174 (03) :1153-1173
[7]   GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF SEAMOUNTS FROM SEASAT PROFILES [J].
CRAIG, CH ;
SANDWELL, DT .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH AND PLANETS, 1988, 93 (B9) :10408-10420
[8]   Seamounts as Conduits for Massive Fluid, Heat, and Solute Fluxes on Ridge Flanks [J].
Fisher, Andrew T. ;
Wheat, C. Geoffrey .
OCEANOGRAPHY, 2010, 23 (01) :74-87
[9]   A GLOBAL AND REGIONAL STOCHASTIC-ANALYSIS OF NEAR-RIDGE ABYSSAL HILL MORPHOLOGY [J].
GOFF, JA .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH, 1991, 96 (B13) :21713-21737
[10]  
Goff JA., 2004, Oceanography, V17, P24, DOI [10.5670/oceanog.2004.64, DOI 10.5670/OCEANOG.2004.64]