1. What do you know about seamounts, guyot formation, and aseismic ridges?

Seamount is an underwater mountain formed by volcanic activity.

Seamounts - undersea mountains formed by volcanic activity - were once thought to be little
more than hazards to submarine navigation. Today, scientists recognize these structures as
biological hotspots that support a dazzling array of marine life.
The biological richness of seamount habitats results from the shape of these undersea
mountains. Thanks to the steep slopes of seamounts, nutrients are carried upwards from the
depths of the oceans toward the sunlit surface, providing food for creatures ranging from corals to
fish to crustaceans.
New estimates suggest that, taken together, seamounts encompass about 28.8 million square
kilometers of the Earth's surface. That's larger than deserts, tundra, or any other single land-based
global habitat on the planet.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seamounts.html

Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise hundreds or thousands of feet from the
seafloor. They are generally extinct volcanoes that, while active, created piles of lava that
sometimes break the ocean surface. In fact, the highest mountain on Earth is actually a seamount—
Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is more than 30,000 feet tall measured from its base
on the seafloor 18,000 feet beneath the surface.
Seamounts are commonly found near the boundaries of Earth’s tectonic plates and mid-plate
near hotspots. At mid-ocean ridges, plates are spreading apart and magma rises to fill the gaps.
Near subduction zones, plates collide, forcing ocean crust down toward Earth’s hot interior, where
this crustal material melts, forming magma that rises buoyantly back to the surface and erupts to
create volcanoes and seamounts. Seamounts are also created at hot spots, isolated areas within
tectonic plates where plumes of magma rise through the crust and erupt at the seafloor, often
creating chains of volcanoes and seamounts, such as the Hawaiian Islands.
Scientists estimate there are at least 100,000 seamounts higher than 1,000 meters around the
world. These provide hard foundations for deep-sea life to settle on and grow. In addition,
seamounts rising into the ocean create obstacles that shape ocean currents and direct deep,
nutrient-rich waters up the sloping sides of seamounts to the surface. These factors combine to
make seamounts fertile habitats for diverse communities of marine life, including sponges, crabs,
sea anemones, commercially important fish, and deep-sea corals. Unlike shallow-water corals,
which rely on photosynthetic algae and sunlight to grow, deep-sea corals get energy from filtering
organic material that falls from the surface.
Although they are often hidden beneath the ocean (often making them a navigation hazard,
particularly for submarines), seamounts are nevertheless ubiquitous and fundamental geological
features; studying them gives us insights into the forces that have shaped the face of our planet.
Forged and altered by volcanic and tectonic processes that are intimately linked to the deep earth,
they are also being targeted by mining companies that hope to harvest the minerals that often
collect around seamounts as a result of hydrothermal activity.
Seamounts also attract an abundance of marine life and are productive fishing grounds more
than 80 commercial species worldwide. At the same time, coral mining and fish trawling, using nets
that rake up everything in their paths, have created indelible scars in the spectacularly diverse and
abundant seamount ecosystems. Deep-sea corals that thrive on and around seamounts host more
than 1,300 different species of animals; some are unique to seamounts themselves and some live
only on a specific species of coral. Until they were discovered in 2000, these lush and intricate
ecosystems were largely unknown, and scientists have only begun to learn about their ecological
importance and their role in the evolution of life in the deep.
In particular, researchers have been investigating the interaction between seamounts and
ocean currents and the role that this may play in creating isolated biological “hotspots” that act as
critical locations for new species formation, endemism, and biodiversity. At the same time, their
isolation may also make seamount communities especially sensitive to human disturbances such
as fishing and mining.
Scientists are also investigating whether seamounts act as oases or “stepping stones” for life
amid barren expanses of seafloor. Other research is looking into questions about how seamount
populations change in response to climate-induced shifts in ocean circulation and whether habitats
disturbed by human activity can recover. Such knowledge is critical to policymakers, so that they
can make effective decisions about managing and protecting this diverse and valuable resource
throughout our deep ocean.

http://www.whoi.edu/main/topic/seamounts

Seamount, large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 1,000 m (3,300 feet) above the
surrounding deep-sea floor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped
seamounts are called guyots. Great Meteor Tablemount in the northeast Atlantic, standing more
than 4,000 m (13,120 feet) above the surrounding terrain, with a basal diameter of up to 110 km
(70 miles), illustrates the size that such features can attain. The sides of larger seamounts generally
are concave upward and rarely slope more than 14°; smaller seamounts lack this concavity and can
have sides as steep as 35°. In plan, seamounts tend to be elliptical or elongate, possibly because
the lavas are extruded from linear rifts in the seafloor.
Most material dredged from seamounts is microcrystalline, or glassy, oceanic basalt that
probably formed as submarine lava flows. The summits and flanks of seamounts are generally
covered with a thin layer of marine sediment.
Seamounts are exceedingly abundant and occur in all major ocean basins. By the late 1970s
more than 10,000 seamounts had been reported from the Pacific Ocean basin alone. Virtually every
oceanographic expedition discovers new seamounts, and it is estimated that approximately 20,000
exist in the oceans of the world.
A linear cluster of seamounts may result when several are fed by lava extruded from a single
linear rift. Most Pacific seamounts occur in linear clusters or elongate groups of 10 to 100. The
individual seamounts in a chain may share a common ridge connecting their bases, as in the Mid-
Pacific Mountains. Seamount chains in the Pacific basin tend to be aligned northwesterly, and
several chains are intimately associated with fracture zones; the Eltanin Fracture Zone in the
southwestern Pacific is an example. At least one seamount chain, the New England Seamounts, lies
in the northwestern Atlantic. No seamount chains have been reported from the Indian Ocean,
possibly because that basin has been less extensively surveyed.

https://www.britannica.com/science/seamount

Guyot, also called tablemount , isolated submarine volcanic mountain with a flat summit more
than 200 metres (660 feet) below sea level. Such flat tops may have diameters greater than 10 km
(6 miles). (The term derives from the Swiss American geologist Arnold Henry Guyot.)
In the Pacific Ocean, where guyots are most abundant, most summits lie 1,000 to 2,000 metres
(3,300 to 6,600 feet) below sea level. Their sides, like those of other submarine volcanoes and
volcanic islands, are slightly concave, rising gently from the surrounding deep-sea floor and
steepening to about 20° at their summits.
Fossil corals with a maximum depth tolerance of only 150 metres (500 feet), along with
rounded volcanic cobbles and boulders, have been dredged from the tops of guyots. These data
indicate that guyots originate as volcanic islands at the shallow crests of mid-oceanic ridges and
rises. During and immediately after their formation, the islands are truncated by wave erosion.
According to the generally accepted theory of seafloor spreading, the seafloor migrates laterally
away from the ridge or rise crests at rates of several centimetres per year. As the seafloor is
propagated away from the crests, it also sinks; thus, guyots become more deeply submerged with
time.
Guyots of the western Pacific Ocean are capped by drowned coral atolls and coral reefs. These
reefs generally date back to the Late Cretaceous (100 million to 65.5 million years ago). Despite the
subsidence of the seafloor since then, the reason for their demise is less clear. Under normal
conditions, coral growth can easily keep up with sinking due to seafloor spreading. The Cretaceous
guyots may have resulted from the northward drift of seamounts and reefs on the Pacific Plate
away from the tropical zone of favourable growth. Another hypothesis is that the reefs were killed
by unusually anoxic (oxygen-depleted) conditions that developed suddenly, a situation possibly
related to intense seafloor volcanism in the Pacific during the Cretaceous.

https://www.britannica.com/science/guyot

Seamounts and Guyots are volcanoes that have built up from the ocean floor, sometimes to
sea level or above. Guyots are seamounts that have built above sea level. Erosion by waves
destroyed the top of the seamount resulting in a flattened shape. Due to the movement of the
ocean floor away from oceanic ridges, the sea floor gradually sinks and the flattened guyots are
submerged to become undersea flat-topped peaks. We know that the tops of guyots were once at
the surface because they contain evidence of fossils such as coral reefs that only live in shallow
water. Seamounts conversely represent volcanoes that did not reach sea level so their tops remain
intact and are shaped like volcanoes on land.

https://www.utdallas.edu/~pujana/oceans/guyot.html

Guyot Landforms Have 3 Main Characteristics:

1. A volcanic mountain under the ocean
2. Flat top at least 660 feet in diameter
3. Stands at least 3,000 feet above the seafloor

Example of a Guyot Landform:

Meiji Seamount, Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, Pacific Ocean
The guyot picture above is of the Bear Seamount

What is a Guyot Landform?

A guyot is an elevated landform rising from the bottom of the ocean and has a flat top at least 660
feet in diameter. A guyot must rise at least 3,000 feet above the seafloor. The sides of a guyot
usually have a very moderate incline of about 20 degrees.

How are Guyots Formed?

Volcanic activity forms a guyot under the ocean. Vents in the seafloor over an area of volcanic
activity may produce lava periodically to grow a guyot or other seamount formation. A seamount
is any kind of underwater elevated landform.

How Large is a Guyot?

A guyot should stand at least 3,000 feet above the seafloor. There are also many similar formations
that are under 3,000 feet tall. One of the largest guyots stands over 15,000 feet above the seafloor.

Where Can a Guyot Be Found?

Guyots are usually found in deep ocean basins. They can form a chain of seamounts as the ocean
plate of the Earth’s crust moves slowly over a hot spot that remains stationary beneath the plate.
One of these is the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain that includes the Hawaiian Islands and
many guyots.

http://worldlandforms.com/landforms/guyot/

Aseismic ridge, a long, linear and mountainous structure that crosses the basin floor of some
oceans. Earthquakes do not occur within aseismic ridges, and it is this feature that distinguishes
them from oceanic spreading centres. Most aseismic ridges are constructed by volcanism from a
hot spot and are composed of coalescing volcanoes of various sizes.
The Hawaiian-Emperor chain is the best displayed aseismic ridge. Earthquakes do occur there,
but only at the end of the ridge where volcanism is current—in this case, on the island of Hawaii
(commonly known as the Big Island) to the southeast end of the island chain. Taking into account
the relief of the island of Hawaii above the seafloor, it is the largest volcanic edifice on Earth. The
Hawaiian-Emperor chain stretches from the Big Island to the intersection of the Kuril and Aleutian
trenches in the northwest Pacific. There are roughly 18 volcanoes or seamounts per 1,000
kilometres (about 600 miles) along the Hawaiian segment and 13 per 1,000 kilometres on the
Emperor portion beyond the bend. The Hawaiian Islands are a part of the chain—the young part—
that rises above sea level. The Hawaiian-Emperor chain has two main trends: (1) from the Hawaiian
Islands west to the Kammu and Yūryaku seamounts (near 32° N, 168° W), the trend of the Hawaiian
portion is just west of northwest; and (2) from this point to the Aleutian Trench, the trend of the
Emperor segment is north-northwest. The hot spot interpretation infers that this change in trend
is due to a change in the direction of Pacific Plate motion, from north-northwest prior to 38 million
years ago (the age of the ridge at the change in trend) to west of northwest until the present day.
Radiometric dating of rocks from the ridge indicates that it is 70 million years old at its extreme
north end.
Other prominent aseismic ridges include the Ninetyeast Ridge and the Chagos-Laccadive
Plateau in the Indian Ocean and the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise in the South Atlantic. The
Ninetyeast Ridge is thought to have originated from hot spot volcanic activity now located at the
Kerguelen Islands near Antarctica. These islands lie atop the Kerguelen Plateau, which also
originated from volcanism at this hot spot. The Ninetyeast Ridge stretches parallel to 90° E
longitude in a long, linear chain of seamounts and volcanic ridges from the Andaman Islands in the
Bay of Bengal more than 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) to the south where it intersects Broken
Ridge at 30° S latitude. Broken Ridge is an aseismic ridge and was once part of the Kerguelen
Plateau. It was split away from the plateau as Australia separated from Antarctica.
Core samples of the seafloor along the Ninetyeast Ridge have been retrieved through deep-
sea drilling. Analyses of the samples show that the ridge is slightly less than 30 million years old in
the south and about 80 million years old in the north. Additionally, sediments on the ridge indicate
that parts of it were above sea level while it was being built near a spreading centre. The ridge then
subsided as it rode north on the Indian Plate.
The Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise originated from hot spot volcanism now occurring at
the islands of Tristan da Cunha 300 kilometres (about 190 miles) east of the crest of the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge. The Walvis Ridge trends northeast from this location to the African margin. The Rio
Grande Rise trends roughly southeast from the South American margin toward the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge. Both the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise began forming from the same hot spot near the
spreading centre as the South Atlantic was in its initial opening stages 100 to 80 million years ago.
The spreading centre shifted west of the hot spot about 80 million years ago, ending construction
of the Rio Grande Rise but continuing to build the Walvis Ridge. Volcanic activity has since
diminished, resulting in the younger part of the latter ridge being smaller. The findings of ocean
drilling on the Rio Grande Rise show that it was once a volcanic island some two kilometres (one
mile) high.

https://www.britannica.com/science/aseismic-ridge

Aseismic Ridge Landforms Have 2 Main Characteristics:

Chain of sea mounts under the ocean
Created by a hotspot under the Earth’s crust

What is an Aseismic Ridge Landform?

An aseismic ridge is a mountain ridge or chain of seamounts under the ocean. They do not produce
seafloor spreading or seismic activity, except in the area of a “hotspot” at one end of the ridge.

How are Aseismic Ridges Formed?

Aseismic ridges are formed by a hotspot in the mantel under the Earth’s crust. As a tectonic plate
moves over the hotspot, a series of seamounts can form on the ocean floor over a period of millions
of years. This may be in the form of mountains, guyots or undersea plateaus. If they rise high
enough, Islands can be created.

How Large is an Aseismic Ridge?

An aseismic ridge can extend for hundreds or thousands of miles.

Where Can an Aseismic Ridge Be Found?

An Aseismic Ridge can be found under the ocean. It may start at a point where there is volcanic
activity on an island or seamount on the ocean floor.

Famous Aseismic Ridges and Facts

• Carnegie Ridge, Pacific Ocean
• Cocos Ridge, Pacific Ocean
• Walvis Ridge, South Atlantic Ocean
• Ninetyeast Ridge, Indian Ocean
• Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain, Pacific Ocean

http://worldlandforms.com/landforms/aseismic-ridge/