The Hidden World of Seamounts
Seamounts are important deep sea ecosystems. Breaking the flat monotony of the abyssal plains, these underwater mountains emerge from the mud.
2021-07-20 19:00:00 - Natural World Facts
Those that rise less than 1,000 m (3,000 feet) above the plains are called abyssal hills, while anything taller is a seamount. And there are at least 100,000 of them, with over half found in the Pacific Ocean near the tectonic plate boundaries. An unsurprising statistic, for Seamounts are formed from volcanism.
The same process responsible for the formation of many island chains. At mid-ocean ridges, the converging tectonic plates collide at boundaries called subduction zones. One plate is subducted, or forced down towards the Earth’s molten interior. As it is subducted, the crust melts and becomes magma, which rises through the rock and erupts to form volcanoes and seamounts.
00:00 - An Introduction to Seamounts
02:00 - Chapter 1: Mountains in the Deep - How Seamounts Form
03:30 - Chapter 1: Mountains in the Deep - The Pacific Ring of Fire
04:33 - Chapter 2: An Underwater Paradise - The Perfect Ecosystem
06:41 - Chapter 2: An Underwater Paradise - The Life of Seamounts
07:30 - Chapter 2: An Underwater Paradise - The Davidson Seamount
08:23 - Chapter 2: An Underwater Paradise - The Coral Gardens
10:05 - Chapter 2: An Underwater Paradise - The Octopus Garden
11:18 - Chapter 3: The Land of Volcanoes - Hawaii's Island Chains
12:09 - Chapter 3: The Land of Volcanoes - Island Preview
12:51 - Outro