Davidson Seamount
| Davidson Seamount | |
|---|---|
Bathymetric mapping showing details of Davidson Seamount
|
|
Bathymetric showing part of Davidson Seamount. The line indicates the route of the 2002 expedition, and the dots stand for significant coral nurseries.
|
|
| Summit depth | 4,101 ft (1,250 m) |
| Height | 7,480 ft (2,280 m) |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 35°43.00′N 122°43.00′W / 35.71667°N 122.71667°WCoordinates: 35°43.00′N 122°43.00′W / 35.71667°N 122.71667°W |
| Country | California, United States |
| Geology | |
| Type | Seamount (underwater volcano) |
| Age of rock | 9–15 million years |
| Last eruption | ~9.8 million years ago |
| History | |
| Discovery date | 1933 |
Davidson Seamount is a seamount (underwater volcano) located off the coast of Central California, 80 mi (129 km) southwest of Monterey and 75 mi (121 km) west of San Simeon. At 26 mi (42 km) long and 8 mi (13 km) wide, it is one of the largest known seamounts in the world. From base to crest, the seamount is 7,480 ft (2,280 m) tall, yet its summit is still 4,101 ft (1,250 m) below the sea surface. The seamount is biologically diverse, with 237 species and 27 types of deep-sea coral having been identified.
Discovered during the mapping of California's coast in 1933, Davidson Seamount is named after geographer George Davidson of the U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Studied only sparsely for decades, NOAA expeditions to the seamount in 2002 and 2006 cast light upon its unique deep-sea coral ecosystem. Davidson Seamount is populated by a dense population of large, ancient corals, some of which are over 100 years of age. The data gathered during the studies fueled the making of Davidson Seamount into a part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 2009.
A seamount such as Davidson is an underwater volcano; this one rises over 3,280 ft (1,000 m) above the surrounding ocean floor. Although there are over 30,000 seamounts in the Pacific Ocean alone, only about 0.1% of them have been explored. The aqueous environment of the seamount means that it behaves differently from volcanoes on land. Its surface is composed mostly of blocky lava flows, although some pillow lava, which is the typical lava type of a seamount, prevails at the deeper flank. The summit is composed of layered deposits of volcanic ash and pyroclastic material. These rocks indicate mildly explosive eruptions of gas-rich lava near the summit of the volcano. The base of Davidson is probably buried in a deep layer of muds.
...
Wikipedia