Southeastern United States continental shelf

Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer BLAKE Washington Navy Yard

The Blake Plateau lies in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

off the coasts of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

. The Blake Plateau lies between the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

and the deep ocean basin extending about east and west by north and south, with a depth of about inshore sloping to about about off shore, where the Blake Escarpment drops steeply to the deep basin. The Blake Plateau and the associated Blake Ridge and Blake Basin are named for the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...

steamer , in service from 1874 to 1905, which was the first ship to use steel cable for oceanographic operations and pioneered deep ocean and

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

exploration. ''George S. Blake''′s

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

lines first defined the plateau that now bears the ship's name. Blake Plateau has the world's largest known deep-water coral reef, comprising a 6.4 million acre reef that stretches from Miami to Charleston, S. C.

History

In July 1880 ''George S. Blake'' under the command of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

John R. Bartlett, U.S.N., was working with sounding gear designed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Dwight Sigsbee in cooperation with Alexander Agassiz, who collected

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

samples and examined the

running eastward fro
Cape Romain
when, in taking frequent soundings eastward, "depths on this line were unexpectedly small, the axis of the Gulf Stream being crossed before a depth of three hundred fathoms () was found" with a bottom of "hard

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

" and little life. This was an early indication of the plateau that would in the future carry the ship's name. In 1882 Commander Bartlett described the plateau: Bartlett reported the scouring effect of the current on the plateau, noting that on each side of the current the sounding cylinder, a device for sampling the nature of the bottom with the sounding, brought up ooze. Within the current the "bottom was washed nearly bare", with particles being small and broken pieces of coral rock and so hard the sharp edge of the brass cylinder was bent.

Characteristics

Geology

Due to unusual features of the plateau, particularly scouring by the Florida Current and the Antilles Current that merge over the plateau to form the

, mineral deposits, particularly manganese nodules, have long been of interest. Methane and other gas hydrates are also found on the plateau.

Biology

The Blake Plateau, once believed to be a "bleak, current-swept plain," was known to have some biological communities including '' Lophelia pertusa''

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s that support communities as well as communities supported by gas hydrates. In fact, by 2024 it was discovered that Blake Plateau has the world's largest known deep-water coral reef, comprising a 6.4 million acre reef that stretches from Miami to Charleston, S. C. The area is composed of nearly continuous coral mound features that span up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) long and 110 kilometers (68 miles) wide. One spot, nicknamed "Million Mounds", is the largest part of the reef. It is composed of a stony coral and is commonly found at depths of 656 to 3,280 feet. The reef was discovered during sonar investigations beginning in 2019, and was announced in January 2024. Commercial fishermen have begun exploiting deep sea fish on the plateau with studies being undertaken on the viability of such

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, as these fish, although large, grow slowly. Biological sampling of the deep bottom is difficult under the Gulf Stream with the consequence that the fauna is relatively poorly known. (See "Blake Plateau")

Notes

References

External links

The Blake Plateau: A Southern Treasure
– NRDC
U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Mapping Program, USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, U.S. EEZ Atlantic Continental Margin GLORIA, GLORIA Geology Interpretation (See Blake Plateau)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake Plateau) Plateaus of the Atlantic Ocean Marine geology