Post by sky on Jun 4, 2012 17:00:14 GMT 12
A group of Wellington scientists has announced their discovery of a string of hydrothermal vents on the Tangaroa seamount in the Bay of Plenty.
“Some of the venting we found was very high temperature, black smoker type situations, where the temperature is several hundred degrees Celsius,” said principal scientist Malcolm Clark of the Niwa expedition.
The top of the seamount is nearly six tenths of a mile (1 km) below the ocean’s surface.
There are 50 submarine volcanoes stretching along the Kermadec Ridge. It’s a significant feature of the Western Pacific, extending almost 1500 km to the edge of the New Zealand northeast of the Kermadec Islands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonar image of Tangaroa Seamount. Image: Niwa.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because the hydrothermal vents associated with these underwater volcanoes release hot water and gases with different chemical compositions, deep-sea dwellers have adapted various communities to survive in each area.
Scientists therefore say that the Tanagaroa seamount should be declared off limits to commercial fishing and mining.
www.sunlive.co.nz/news/26305-deep-sea-trawlers-warned-off-seamount.html
“Some of the venting we found was very high temperature, black smoker type situations, where the temperature is several hundred degrees Celsius,” said principal scientist Malcolm Clark of the Niwa expedition.
The top of the seamount is nearly six tenths of a mile (1 km) below the ocean’s surface.
There are 50 submarine volcanoes stretching along the Kermadec Ridge. It’s a significant feature of the Western Pacific, extending almost 1500 km to the edge of the New Zealand northeast of the Kermadec Islands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonar image of Tangaroa Seamount. Image: Niwa.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because the hydrothermal vents associated with these underwater volcanoes release hot water and gases with different chemical compositions, deep-sea dwellers have adapted various communities to survive in each area.
Scientists therefore say that the Tanagaroa seamount should be declared off limits to commercial fishing and mining.
www.sunlive.co.nz/news/26305-deep-sea-trawlers-warned-off-seamount.html