Ocean Riddled with 19,000 Underwater Volcanoes, Seamounts —Study

According to a recent study, there are about 19,000 seamounts and underwater volcanoes scattered throughout the ocean floor.

The oceanographers from the University of Hawaii, Chungnam National University in South Korea, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, used radar satellite data to map the volcanoes.

Since a large portion of the ocean floor has yet to be explored, it is unknown how many underwater volcanoes there may be on the sea floor.

Only 20% of the ocean floor has been mapped by ships, according to the study.

There have been a few studies that suggested that there might be thousands more seamounts on the ocean floor, according to Julie Gevorgian, a The Scripps Institution of Oceanography research data analyst and coauthors of the study.

Over 19,000 new seamounts are still astounding to consider even then.

Underwater Volcanoes or Seamounts

Underwater volcanoes are formed similarly to land-based volcanoes by tectonic plate collision or volcanic eruption.

Seamounts are another name for underwater volcanoes.

Knowing the locations of seamounts is useful for improving submarine routes and sea mining operations.

According to a press release outlining the study, two US submarines have previously collided with seamounts, which could be dangerous for the crew.

Scientists can better understand the tectonic plates and the geomagnetic field of the Earth by mapping the locations of seamounts.

According to the study, volcanoes can provide information about the makeup and temperature of the Earth's mantle.

Deep ocean currents are impacted by seamounts.

When currents and seamounts interact, the currents are pushed upward and carry cold water.

This can be crucial to examine because climate change is causing the oceans to absorb more carbon dioxide.

Since seamounts are rich in minerals and can serve as a habitat for a variety of marine life, scientists have set out to explore and map out as many seamounts as they can to learn more about what lies beneath the ocean's surface.

19,000 Ancient Volcanoes

The 19,325 seamounts that were found were unknown to science before.

The seamounts could not be photographed by the satellites used to find them, but they could be identified by differences in their altitudes and gravitational pull.

According to Gevorgian, there may be a lot more minor seamounts in the world.

Seamounts with a diameter of less than six kilometers won't be found because the resolution of the available altimetry data is only about six kilometers.

These tiny seamounts are harder to spot in the altimetry data because they have smaller masses and smaller gravity signatures.

For instance, this might be the case close to ridges that spread quickly and have a lot of tiny volcanoes.

According to Gevorgian, prior studies estimate that there may be 50,000 of them worldwide and that the number rises as the size of the organisms decreases.

Gevorgian's team's study unquestionably contributed to the global seamount catalog's advancement, but the study could still go further with better data resolution.

Volcanic Activities on the Ocean Floor

The new seamounts found in this study will be added to the 24,643 seamounts that were previously cataloged in the 2011 Kim-Wessel catalog, also known as the Global Seamount Database, putting the current count at 43,454 seamounts.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, three-quarters of all Earth's volcanic activity occurs underwater.

Eruptions can occasionally, though extremely rarely, be dangerous.

Although they must not be too deep below the water's surface, underwater volcanoes can cause tsunamis.

Explosive eruptions like those we see from some land volcanoes are generally rare for seamounts.

This is due to the enormous weight that is produced by the water pressure at these depths.

Consequently, when an underwater volcano erupts, it will produce a passive lava flow along the ocean floor.

These eruptions are typically invisible from the ocean's surface, Newsweek reported.

The study by Gevorgian and several colleagues has been recently published in Earth and Space Science.