Multibeam bathymetry of Pao Pao Seamount (background) and an unnamed guyot (foreground) shows one example of nearby seamounts with very different geomorphology. Pao Pao Seamount comes to a very sharp peak at around 300 meters and shows steep flanks while the unnamed feature has a distinct flat top. Biological communities we find on these features may differ greatly at similar depth intervals despite being only 25 kilometers apart from each other.
Nearby Seamounts
Image courtesy of NOAA OER. Download larger version (jpg, 861 KB).

Multibeam bathymetry of Pao Pao Seamount (background) and an unnamed guyot (foreground) shows one example of nearby seamounts with very different geomorphology. Pao Pao Seamount comes to a very sharp peak at around 300 meters and shows steep flanks while the unnamed feature has a distinct flat top. Biological communities we find on these features may differ greatly at similar depth intervals despite being only 25 kilometers apart from each other.

Learn more