Researchers have discovered four giant seamounts towering over the ocean floor surrounding South America after detecting “gravity anomalies” emitted by giant underwater mountains. The tallest one stands more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) above the ocean floor, making it three times as tall as the world's tallest building.
Scientists aboard the Schmidt Institute of Oceanography's research vessel Falkor recently traveled to deep ocean waters 286 to 373 miles (460 to 600 km) off the coast of Peru and Chile during an expedition through the eastern Pacific Ocean. Discovered and mapped a quartet of seamounts. From Costa Rica to Chile.
The heights of Peru's three mountains were 5,220 feet (1,591 meters), 5,459 feet (1,644 meters), and 6,145 feet (1,873 meters), respectively. But the largest seamount discovered off the coast of Chile rises 8,796 feet (2,681 meters) above the ocean floor and lies less than a mile above the water's surface. For comparison, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is 2,716 feet (828 m) tall, while the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet (380 m) tall.
The highest mountain also has a surface area of about 175 square miles (450 square kilometers), which is about the same size as New Orleans.
These giant underwater mountains are all extinct volcanoes and are so huge that they cause subtle changes in sea level height, and these so-called gravity anomalies can be detected by satellites. In this case, the sea level bulges out directly above the peak.
“Looking for gravity anomalies is a fancy way of saying that we looked for irregularities on a map and, as a result, we located a very large seamount.” john fulmerthe expedition's chief engineer said in a statement emailed to LiveScience.
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Last year, the same research team discovered another giant seamount. Approximately twice the size of Burj Khalifa. However, there are some even larger underwater mountains.
Technically speaking, the world's largest seamount is Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. According to , the mountain is approximately 13,796 feet (4,205 m) above sea level, but extends to the ocean floor. United States Geological Survey. Actual height is approximately 33,500 feet (10,211 m).
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, scientists believe there may be up to 100,000 seamounts dotting the world's oceans. However, only a small portion of them are mapped. More than half of these predicted peaks are thought to be in the Pacific Ocean.
The latest expedition is part of a new project called 'Seabed 2030'. The aim is to map the entire world's ocean floor by the end of this decade. And the rest of these hidden peaks should be revealed in all their glory.
Seamounts are often referred to as “biological hotspots” by marine researchers. This structure provides a hard substrate for immobile organisms such as corals and sponges to colonize, and causes “upwelling” when ocean currents bring nutrients from the deep ocean closer to the surface. This attracts larger organisms such as crustaceans, fish, cephalopods, and sharks, making seamounts extremely important as marine habitats.
“When you find seamounts, you almost always end up in understudied biodiversity hotspots.” Jyothika Virmanisaid Schmidt, executive director of the Oceanographic Institute, in a statement. “Every time we discover these bustling underwater communities, we make incredible new discoveries and advance our knowledge about life on Earth.”