Abstract
GEOS-3/SEASAT radar altimeter images were used to detect major uncharted seamounts in the southwest Pacific. Verification of the predicted seamounts was undertaken during research cruises of HMNZS Tui and R/V Moana Wave during 1986–87. Four large seamounts were located and mapped by a variety of shipboard recording systems including 12-kHz and 3.5-kHz echo sounders, seismic, gravity, magnetics, and SeaMARC II.
Of the three seamounts located in the southern Line Islands area, the largest has a height of 4030 m and basal diameter of 40 km. The fourth seamount, in the Samoan Basin, has a height of 2825 m and basal diameter of 35 km. The summits of the seamounts are located at 1° 45.4’S 156° 10.0’ W, 1° 55.5’S 156° 17.3’ W, 3° 223’S 155° 41.0’W, and 12° 25.2’S 166° 27.9’W Ferromanganese-oxide crusts on these seamounts constitute a potential mineral resource for Co, Ni and Cu. Crust up to 5 cm thick was dredged from the largest seamount.
Despite limited success by some marine expeditions in locating uncharted seamounts from satellite altimetry, our results indicate that it is a reliable and cost-effective technique for delineating major submarine topographic features, particularly in remote and poorly explored regions such as the southwest Pacific.
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© 1992 Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources
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Hill, P.J., Baudry, N. (1992). Southwest Pacific Seamounts Revealed by Satellite Altimetry. In: Keating, B.H., Bolton, B.R. (eds) Geology and Offshore Mineral Resources of the Central Pacific Basin. Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series, vol 14. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2896-7_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2896-7_6
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