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The Zhongsha Islets is a Chinese term for a collection of two skerries, many entirely submerged banks, seamounts, and shoals in the South China Sea. There are in fact, no islands in the Macclesfield Bank, the main part of Zhongsha. The Scarborough Shoal, which consists of two skerries, is not contiguous with the Macclesfield Bank but Chinese sources treat them as one chain of geographical features. The whole of the region is claimed by both the PRC and the ROC, and various bits of the eastern parts are claimed by the Philippines. No country has constant control of the whole region, and there are disputes - for example, see Scarborough Shoal standoff.
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all part of Honolulu County in the U.S. state of Hawaii, except Midway Atoll, which is a territory distinct from the State of Hawaii, and grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The United States Census Bureau defines this area, except Midway, as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County. Its total land area is 3.1075 square miles (8.048 km2). All the islands except Nihoa are north of the Tropic of Cancer, making them the only islands in Hawaii that lie outside the tropics.
Maro Reef is a largely submerged coral atoll located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was discovered in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen of the ship Maro, after whose ship the reef was named. With a total area of 747 square miles (1,935 km2), it is the largest coral reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It contains 37 species of stony coral. Unlike most atolls, the coral extends out from the center like spokes on a wheel. Located about 850 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maro Reef contains about 1 acre (4,000 m2) of dry land which itself can be submerged depending on the tides. Some scientists believe that it "may be on the verge of drowning" because the reefs are detached and are vulnerable to strong storm waves.
The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is a mostly undersea mountain range in the Pacific Ocean that reaches above sea level in Hawaii. It is composed of the Hawaiian ridge, consisting of the islands of the Hawaiian chain northwest to Kure Atoll, and the Emperor Seamounts: together they form a vast underwater mountain region of islands and intervening seamounts, atolls, shallows, banks and reefs along a line trending southeast to northwest beneath the northern Pacific Ocean. The seamount chain, containing over 80 identified undersea volcanoes, stretches about 6,200 km (3,900 mi) from the Aleutian Trench in the far northwest Pacific to the Lōʻihi Seamount, the youngest volcano in the chain, which lies about 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of the Island of Hawaiʻi.
Meiji Seamount, named after Emperor Meiji, the 122nd Emperor of Japan, is the oldest seamount in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, with an estimated age of 82 million years. It lies at the northernmost end of the chain, and is perched at the outer slope of the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench. Like the rest of the Emperor seamounts, it was formed by the Hawaii hotspot volcanism, grew to become an island, and has since subsided to below sea level, all while being carried first north and now northwest by the motion of the Pacific Plate. Meiji Seamount is thus an example of a particular type of seamount known as a guyot, and some publications refer to it as Meiji Guyot.
The Hawai’i hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located near the namesake Hawaiian Islands, in the northern Pacific Ocean. One of the best known and intensively studied hotspots in the world, the Hawaii plume is responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, a 6,200-kilometer (3,900 mi) mostly undersea volcanic mountain range. Four of these volcanoes are active, two are dormant; more than 123 are extinct, most now preserved as atolls or seamounts. The chain extends from south of the island of Hawaiʻi to the edge of the Aleutian Trench, near the eastern coast of Russia.
Detroit Seamount, which was formed around 76 million years ago, is one of the oldest seamounts of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. It lies near the northernmost end of the chain and is south of Aleutian Islands, at 51°28.80′N167°36′E It is a seamount in the chain, located north of the hinge of the "V" in the image at right.
The Louisville hotspot is a volcanic hotspot responsible for the volcanic activity that has formed the Louisville Ridge in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Koko Guyot is a 48.1-million-year-old guyot, a type of underwater volcano with a flat top, which lies near the southern end of the Emperor seamounts, about 200 km (124 mi) north of the "bend" in the volcanic Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. Pillow lava has been sampled on the north west flank of Koko Seamount, and the oldest dated lava is 40 million years old. Seismic studies indicate that it is built on a 9 km (6 mi) thick portion of the Pacific Plate. The oldest rock from the north side of Koko Seamount is dated at 52.6 and the south side of Koko at 50.4 million years ago. To the southeast of the bend is Kimmei Seamount at 47.9 million years ago and southeast of it, Daikakuji at 46.7.
Ōjin Seamount, also called Ōjin Guyot, named after Emperor Ōjin, 15th Emperor of Japan, is a guyot of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean. It erupted 55 million years ago.
Nintoku Seamount or Nintoku Guyot is a seamount and guyot in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. It is a large, irregularly shaped volcano that last erupted 66 million years ago. Three lava flows have been sampled at Nintoku Seamount; the flows are almost all alkalic (subaerial) lava. It is 56.2 million years old.
Yuryaku Seamount is a seamount and guyot (flat-topped) located northwest of Hawaii. It is located a little southwest of the V-shaped bend separating the Emperor Seamounts from the older Hawaiian islands, all of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the North Pacific Ocean.
Kimmei Seamount is a seamount of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the northern Pacific Ocean. It last erupted about 40 million years ago.
Jingū Seamount, also called Jingū Guyot, is a guyot of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean. It erupted 55 million years ago. The seamount is elongated in structure, running north–south, and has an oval shaped crater in the center, which is evidence of collapse when above sea level.
Suiko Seamount, also called Suiko Guyot, is a guyot of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean.
Abbott Seamount is a seamount lying within the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the northern Pacific Ocean. It erupted 36-40 million years ago.
Kanmu Seamount is a seamount lying within the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain in the Pacific Ocean. The last eruption of Kanmu Seamount is unknown.
Arago hotspot is a hotspot in the Pacific Ocean, presently located below the Arago seamount close to the island of Rurutu, French Polynesia.
Musicians Seamounts are a chain of seamounts in the Pacific Ocean, north of the Hawaiian Ridge. There are about 65 seamounts, some of which are named after musicians. These seamounts exist in two chains, one of which has been attributed to a probably now-extinct hotspot called the Euterpe hotspot. Others may have formed in response to plate tectonics associated with the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the former Farallon Plate.
References
Bibliography
- Jackson, Everett D.; Koizumi, Itaru; Kirkpatrick, R. James; Avdeiko, Gennady; Clague, David; Dalrymple, G. Brent; Karpoff, Anne-Marie; McKenzie, Judith; Butt, Arif; Ling, Hsin Yi; Takayama, Toshiaki; Green, H. Gary; Morgan, Jason; Kono, Masaru (1980). "Site 431: Yōmei Seamount" (PDF). Deep Sea Drilling Project Initial Reports. 55: 77–94. doi: 10.2973/dsdp.proc.55.104.1980 .
Coordinates: 42°20′N170°07′E / 42.333°N 170.117°E
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