During an expedition on a ship between Golfito, Costa Rica, and Valparaíso, Chile, Scientists from the Schmidt Institute of Oceanography have discovered four giant mountains on the sea floor. Seamount sizes range from 1,591 meters to 2,681 metres. This discovery was made while researching gravity anomalies in the area.
Biodiversity
“We were fortunate that we were able to plan the mapping route at the right time Using these gravity anomalies in satellite altimetry datasaid John Vollmer, a researcher at the foundation. “Checking out gravity anomalies is a fancy way of saying we're looking for ridges on a map, and when we did that, we identified these very large seamounts while we were on schedule for our first science cruise to Chile earlier this year,” he explained.
The largest mountains have an area of 450 square kilometers and are located 1,150 meters below the Earth's surface. According to the researchers, Underwater mountains often host great biodiversity. These environments are often home to corals, sponges and deep-sea anemones. They live alongside organisms that find food, shelter, and rocky surfaces to cling to along mountain slopes.
Since 2012, scientists at the Schmidt Institute of Oceanography have mapped about 1.5 million square kilometers and discovered 29 seamounts, ridges and trenches. Last year, an expedition from the foundation He revealed a huge underwater mountain 1,600 meters high . The discovery was made in international waters in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of about 2,400 meters below sea level.
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