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Seamounts - characteristics, formation, mineral deposits and biodiversity

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Seamounts - characteristics, formation, mineral deposits and biodiversity
 
Creator Iyer, S.D.
Mehta, C.M.
Das, P.
Kalangutkar, N.G.
 
Subject ecology
circulation
seamounts
geographical distribution
 
Description Seamounts represent crust-mantle activities and are areas of petrological deviations, biodiversity, seismicity and hydrothermal events. An estimated approx. 50 million tons/year of basalts are required to produce seamounts suggesting intense oceanic volcanism. Seamounts either occur as chains perpendicular to the ridge or as isolated entities or in clusters. Seamounts may host basalts, hyaloclastites, gabbros and serpentinites and these variants perhaps evolve from multiple melting domains as a consequence of large-scale thermal structure and mantle lithology. Nonhotspot seamounts on a young, thin and hot lithosphere host tholeiites whereas the plume related ones on thick, older lithosphere may be either tholeiitic or alkaline. Seamounts may bear hydrothermal deposits (Fe, Mn, Co) rare metals and phosphorites. The resistance of seamounts to subduction could trigger slides; while shearing of seamounts buried in subduction zones leads to seismicity, both of which could cause tsunamis. Seamounts greatly affect the circulation patterns and currents, which in turn influence the surrounding biota. We review here the seamounts in terms of discovery, characteristics, distribution and their influence on the marine environment.
 
Date 2012-11-02T07:19:54Z
2012-11-02T07:19:54Z
2012
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Geologica Acta, vol.10(3); 2012; 295-308
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4190
 
Language en
 
Relation Geol_Acta_10_295.jpg
 
Rights © Author@NIO 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License
 
Publisher Biblioteca de Geologia (UB-CSIC)