The Louisville Ridge, also known as the Louisville Seamount Chain, is an underwater chain of over 70
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...
s located in the Southwest portion of the Pacific Ocean. As one of the longest seamount chains on Earth it stretches some
[Vanderkluysen, L.; Mahoney, J. J.; Koppers, A. A.; and Lonsdale, P. F. (2007)]
Geochemical Evolution of the Louisville Seamount Chain
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #V42B-06. from the
Pacific-Antarctic Ridge
The Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (PAR) is a divergent tectonic plate boundary located on the seafloor of the South Pacific Ocean, separating the Pacific Plate from the Antarctic Plate. It is regarded as the southern section of the East Pacific Rise ...
northwest to the
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
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Kermadec Trench
The Kermadec Trench is a linear ocean trench in the south Pacific Ocean. It stretches about from the Louisville Seamount Chain in the north (26°S) to the Hikurangi Plateau in the south (37°S), north-east of New Zealand's North Island. Toget ...
, where it subducts under the
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and the surrounding ocean and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and the adjacent waters. It was formed by the fusion of the Indian an ...
as part of the
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate.
The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and I ...
. The chain may have been formed by movement of the Pacific Plate over the
Louisville hotspot
The Louisville hotspot is a volcanic hotspot responsible for the volcanic activity that has formed the Louisville Ridge in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Location
The Louisville hotspot is believed to lie close to the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, alt ...
or by leakage of magma from the shallow mantle up through the Eltanin fracture zone, which it follows closely.
Depth-sounding data first revealed the existence of the seamount chain in 1972.
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Seamounts
The Louisville Ridge includes the following:
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Burton Seamount
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Currituck Seamount
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Danseur Seamount
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Darvin Guyot
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Forde Seamount
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Louisville Seamount
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Osbourn Seamount
The Osbourn Seamount is a seamount in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost and oldest unsubducted seamount of the Louisville Ridge, with an estimated age of 78.8 ± 1.3 . Like other seamounts comprising the Louisville Rid ...
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Pierson Seamount
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Rumyantsev Seamount
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Seafox Seamount
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Trobriant Seamount
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Valerie Guyot
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Vostok Seamount
See also
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Hollister Ridge
Hollister Ridge is a group of seamounts in the Pacific Ocean. They lie west from the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge and form three ridges that form a line; one of the ridges rises to a depth of and in the past formed an island. The seamounts are compo ...
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Hotspot (geology)
In geology, hotspots (or hot spots) are volcanic locales thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. Examples include the Hawaii, Iceland, and Yellowstone hotspots. A hotspot's position on t ...
References
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External links
Expedition 330 - Louisville Seamount Trail Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) was an international marine research program. The program used heavy drilling equipment mounted aboard ships to monitor and sample sub-seafloor environments. With this research, the IODP documented e ...
, 13 December 2010 to 11 February 2011
The Louisville Ridge – Tonga Trench collision: Implications for subduction zone dynamics RV Sonne
The RV'' Sonne'' (German for 'Sun') was a former German fishing trawler converted into a research vessel by Schichau Unterweser AG, doing mostly geoscience-related work for a variety of commercial and scientific clients. She was registered in Bre ...
Research Expedition SO215 Cruise Report, 25 April 2011 to 11 June 2011
Seamounts of the Pacific Ocean
Guyots
Oceanography
Hotspot tracks
Seamount chains