Wikipedia

Tarava Seamounts

The Tarava Seamounts are a group of seamounts in the southern Pacific Ocean, southwest of the Society Islands. They are formed by five guyots and a number of cone-shaped seamounts. Of Eocene-Oligocene age, they may have formed under the influence of a hotspot.

Tarava Seamounts
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Punu Taipu Guyot
Punu Taipu Guyot
Fafa Piti Seamount
Fafa Piti Seamount
Ua'ao Seamount
Ua'ao Seamount
Otaha Seamount
Otaha Seamount
Honu Seamount
Honu Seamount
Otu'eroa Seamount
Otu'eroa Seamount
Orio'Mata Seamount
Orio'Mata Seamount
Arere Seamount
Arere Seamount
Tarava Seamounts
Location
LocationSouth Pacific Ocean
Coordinates18°18′S 153°00′W / 18.3°S 153°W / -18.3; -153[1]
Geology
TypeSeamount chain
Age of rock43.5–36.1 Ma[2]


Geography and geology edit

The Tarava Seamounts are also known as the Savannah Seamounts[1] and were discovered during the 1996 ZEPOLYF1 oceanographic cruise.[3] East of the Tarava Seamounts lie the Va'a Tau Piti seamounts, which were sometimes considered part of the Tarava Seamounts but are considered geologically separate owing to their different configuration (east-west rather than northwest-southeast),[2] which may reflect an origin close to the East Pacific Rise.[4]

Regional edit

Linear chains of volcanoes in the Pacific have been attributed to deep mantle plumes,[5] but a number of such chains appear to correspond to short lasting volcanism, such as processes triggered by tension in the Pacific Plate.[1]

The South Pacific Superswell is a large structure in the southern Pacific Ocean, where there are many volcanoes and the seafloor is unusually shallow. Asthenospheric processes may be responsible for its existence.[2]

Local edit

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The Tarava Seamounts consist of eighteen separate edifices[4] which extend across six longitudes and four latitudes[2] over a length of 700 kilometres (430 mi),[6] 200 kilometres (120 mi) away from the Society Islands.[7] Aside from five large guyots which reach depths of 580 metres (1,900 ft) below sea level, the Tarava Seamounts consist of 4,000–4,500 metres (13,100–14,800 ft) high cones.[8] Among the named edifices are Arere (‘Arere, 16°48′30″S 155°11′36″W / 16.808333°S 155.193333°W / -16.808333; -155.193333[9]), Fafa Piti (18°57′42″S 154°05′48″W / 18.961667°S 154.096667°W / -18.961667; -154.096667),[10] Honu (18°22′36″S 154°05′24″W / 18.376667°S 154.09°W / -18.376667; -154.09),[11] Orio'Mata (‘Ori‘o Mata Seamount 17°48′48″S 154°04′30″W / 17.813333°S 154.075°W / -17.813333; -154.075),[12] Otaha ( ‘Otaha Seamount 18°45′30″S 152°14′24″W / 18.758333°S 152.24°W / -18.758333; -152.24),[13] Otu'eroa (‘Otu‘eroa Seamount 18°13′12″S 152°44′54″W / 18.22°S 152.748333°W / -18.22; -152.748333),[14] Punu Taipu Guyot (19°16′30″S 150°58′48″W / 19.275°S 150.98°W / -19.275; -150.98)[15] and Ua'ao.(18°55′00″S 151°50′18″W / 18.916667°S 151.838333°W / -18.916667; -151.838333)[16][17]

The seamounts are considered to be of Eocene-Oligocene age.[18] Only two seamounts have been dated, both by potassium-argon dating: Fafa Piti has yielded ages of 43.5 ± 0.6 million years ago and Punu Taipu of 36.1 ± 0.5 million years ago.[2] Such ages are consistent with an age progressive volcanism caused by a hotspot, whose volcano-building activity was influenced by lithospheric anomalies,[19] considering that there is a discontinuity in the chain which would have formed about 43 million years ago[20] at the time of a major change in the motion of the Pacific Plate.[21] The hotspot in question may be the Foundation hotspot, the Pitcairn hotspot[22] or a now extinct third hotspot.[19] Alternatively, the formation of the Tuamotu Plateau may have induced tectonic stress that propagated towards the location of the future Tarava Seamounts.[18]

Biology edit

Deep-sea animals such as these living on the Tarava Seamounts and their slopes have drawn attention, since they are poorly researched and possibly under threat from climate change and deep-sea mining.[23] The Tarava Seamounts are considered potential mining sites for polymetallic crusts.[24] Several new species have been discovered on the Tarava Seamounts, such as the Lophiodes iwamotoi anglerfish,[25] the cone snail Profundiconus tarava,[26] the majoid crab Samadinia longispina[27] and pectinoid Parvamussium vesiculosum.[28] Numerous deep-sea rissoidae snails have been described from the Tarava Seamounts.[29] Other species found there are Propeamussium watsoni together with five other pectinoids,[28] and tonnoidean gastropods.[30]

  •  
    Parvamussium vesiculosum (holotype in MNHN, Paris)

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 118.
  2. ^ a b c d e Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 119.
  3. ^ Delavenne et al. 2019, p. 4.
  4. ^ a b Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 121.
  5. ^ Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 117.
  6. ^ Beu, Bouchet & Jean 2012, p. 63.
  7. ^ Sedov et al. 2008, p. 579.
  8. ^ Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 121,122.
  9. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Arere". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Fafa Piti". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Honu". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:'Ori'o Mata". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Otaha". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Otu'eroa". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Punu Taipu". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Marine Gazetteer Place details:Ua'ao". Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  17. ^ Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 120.
  18. ^ a b Sedov et al. 2008, p. 584.
  19. ^ a b Clouard, Bonneville & Gillot 2003, p. 128.
  20. ^ Clouard, Valérie; Bonneville, Alain (2005). Special Paper 388: Plates, plumes and paradigms. Vol. 388. pp. 71–90. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2388-4.71. ISBN 978-0-8137-2388-4. S2CID 133484558.
  21. ^ Fontaine, Fabrice R.; Barruol, Guilhem; Tommasi, Andréa; Bokelmann, Götz H. R. (2007-09-01). "Upper-mantle flow beneath French Polynesia from shear wave splitting". Geophysical Journal International. 170 (3): 1283. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.2007.03475.x. hdl:1885/34185. ISSN 0956-540X.
  22. ^ Morgan, W. Jason; Morgan, Jason Phipps (2007). Plate velocities in hotspot reference frame: electronic supplement (Report). pp. 73–74.
  23. ^ Delavenne et al. 2019, p. 9.
  24. ^ Andréfouët, Serge; Adjeroud, Mehdi (2019), "French Polynesia", World Seas: an Environmental Evaluation, Elsevier, p. 845, doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-100853-9.00039-7, ISBN 978-0-08-100853-9, S2CID 263724857, retrieved 2021-10-19 – via ResearchGate
  25. ^ Ho, H.-C.; Séret, B.; Shao, K.-T. (2011-12-01). "Records of anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Lophiidae) from the western South Pacific Ocean, with descriptions of two new species". Journal of Fish Biology. 79 (7): 1722–45. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03106.x. ISSN 1095-8649. PMID 22141884. S2CID 916582.
  26. ^ Tenorio, Manuel J.; Castelin, Magalie (2016-01-29). "Genus Profundiconus Kuroda, 1956 (Gastropoda, Conoidea): Morphological and molecular studies, with the description of five new species from the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia". European Journal of Taxonomy (173): 15. doi:10.5852/ejt.2016.173. ISSN 2118-9773.
  27. ^ NG, PETER K.L.; FORGES, BERTRAND RICHER DE (2013-10-07). "Samadinia longispina, a new genus and species of deep-sea spider crab from the western Pacific, and a new species of Rochinia A. Milne-Edwards, 1875, from Papua New Guinea (Crustacea: Brachyura: Majoidea: Epialtidae)". Zootaxa. 3718 (4): 357–66. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3718.4.5. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 26258232.
  28. ^ a b Dijkstra, Henk H.; Maestrati, Philippe (2013-09-01). "Pectinoidea (Bivalvia: Propeamussiidae, Entoliidae and Pectinidae) from the Tarava Seamounts, Society Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia)". Zoosystema. 35 (3): 361–375. doi:10.5252/z2013n3a2. ISSN 1280-9551. S2CID 85597202.
  29. ^ Amati, Bruno; Giulio, Andrea Di; Oliverio, Marco (28 June 2022). "Deep-water Rissoidae of the genera Benthonella Dall, 1889 and Benthonellania Lozouet, 1990 (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Rissooidea) from French Polynesia". Zoosystema. 44 (12). doi:10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a12.
  30. ^ Beu, Bouchet & Jean 2012, p. 108.

Sources edit

External links edit

  • The context of the TARASOC cruise, description of some species found on the Tarava seamounts.
  • Peñas A. & Rolán E., 2017 Deep water Pyramidelloidea from the Central and south Pacific. The Tibe Chrysallidini. ECIMAT (Estación de Ciencias Mariñas de Toralla) - Universidade de Vigo, 412 pp
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