Seamounts Found On Ocean Floor

Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet.

Seamounts found on ocean floor.

About 15 000 seamounts ocean floor volcanoes too short to breach the sea surface have been revealed in a new topographic map of the earth s oceans. Most seamounts were once active volcanoes and so are usually found near tectonically active plate boundaries mid ocean ridges and subducting zones. The peaks of these seamounts are found about 20 m below the ocean s surface despite the fact that they are located far from shore. The new map is twice as accurate as the previous version produced nearly 20 years ago say the researchers who are affiliated with california s scripps institution of oceanography sio and other.

They cover an area equivalent to russia. 4750 m peak reaches 18 m below the ocean surface. They are defined by oceanographers as independent. Seamounts can be found in every world ocean basin.

Globally seamounts are estimated to occupy less than 1 per cent of the total area of the ocean floor. The team found that there are approximately 33 000 seamounts and 138 000 knolls covering 4 7 and 16 3 of the ocean respectively. A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor but that does not reach to the water s surface and thus is not an island islet or cliff rock seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from the seafloor to 1 000 4 000 m 3 300 13 100 ft in height. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level.

Location although most commonly located near tectonic plate boundaries seamounts are also found in mid plate regions where they often form in linear groups known as chains. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. To gather data from a wide range of countries and private companies to create a freely accessible depiction of the ocean floor. They also represent an unheralded distinct habitat equivalent in size to the world s tropical dry forests.