Reading through this issue of Oceanography, it will become
apparent that researchers in different disciplines see their
seamounts in quite different ways. The term seamount has been
defined many times (e.g., Menard, 1964; Wessel, 2001; Schmidt and
Schmincke, 2000; Pitcher et al., 2007; International Hydrographic
Organization, 2008; Wessel et al.,...
Lō`ihi Seamount defines the volcanically active, leading edge in the Hawaiian hotspot chain. It is located on the submarine flank of Mauna Loa, 30 km south of the island of Hawai`i. Lō`ihi’s summit is at 975-m water depth (Pisces Peak), and the seamount has a pronounced southern rift that extends...
Seamounts are ubiquitous features of the seafloor that form part of the fabric of oceanic crust. When a seamount enters a subduction zone, it has a major affect on forearc morphology, the uplift history of the island arc, and the structure of the downgoing slab. It is not known, however,...
We report new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for the oldest Pacific oceanic floor at Ocean Drilling Program Site 801C in the Pigafetta basin and Site 1149D close to the Izu-Bonin subduction zone in the Nadezhda basin. These ages were determined by applying high-resolution incremental heating experiments (including 15–30 heating steps) to better...
Many disciplines of geochemistry have no data reporting standards, and their use of metadata is inadequately developed. This presents problems to the quality of the published science, and it limits the utility of computers in data analysis and the exploitation of Information Technology (IT). We discuss problems of data and...
On 3 April 2001, a 20 kg point source of fluorescein dye was released 30 m above the bottom of the active summit caldera of Vailulu’u submarine volcano, Samoa. Vailulu’u crater is 2000 m wide and at water depths of 600–1000 m, with the bottom 200 m completely enclosed; it...
In this study we present 42 new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating age determinations updated age progression for the Louisville seamount trail. Louisville is the South Hawaiian‐Emperor seamount trail, both trails representing intraplate volcanism (~80 Ma to present) and being examples of primary hot spot lineaments. Our age‐progressive trend from 71 to...
Estimates of the relative motion between the Hawaiian and Louisville hot spots have consequences
for understanding the role and character of deep Pacific-mantle return flow. The relative motion between
these primary hot spots can be inferred by comparing the age records for their seamount trails. We report
⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for...
Estimates of the relative motion between the Hawaiian and Louisville hot spots have consequences
for understanding the role and character of deep Pacific-mantle return flow. The relative motion between
these primary hot spots can be inferred by comparing the age records for their seamount trails. We report
⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for...
Lau Basin basalts host an array of geochemical signatures that suggest incorporation of enriched mantle source material often associated with intraplate hotspots, but the origin of these signatures remain uncertain. Geochemical signatures associated with mantle material entrained from the nearby Samoan hotspot are present in northwest Lau Basin lavas, and...