The Fogo Seamounts, also called the Fogo Seamount chain, are a group of seamount

Seamount

A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...

s located about 500 km (311 mi) offshore of Newfoundland and southwest of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They consist of basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

ic submarine volcano

Submarine volcano

Submarine volcanoes are underwater fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. They are estimated to account for 75% of annual magma output. The vast majority are located near areas of tectonic plate movement, known as ocean ridges...

es that formed during the Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 period.

The volcanic activity that formed the Fogo Seamounts could have originated in two ways. They may have formed as a result of magma rising along a linear fault zone or from the North American Plate

North American Plate

The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...

 passing over the Canary

Canary hotspot

The Canary hotspot, also called the Canarian hotspot, is a volcanic hotspot believed to be located at the Canary Islands off the north-western coast of Africa, although alternative theories to explain the volcanism there exist. The Canary hotspot is believed to be underlain by a mantle plume that...

 or Azores hotspot

Azores hotspot

The Azores hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located at the Azores in the northern Atlantic Ocean. It has interactions with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which lies just west of the hotspot.-References:**...

s.

See also

• Volcanism of Canada
• Volcanism of Eastern Canada
  Volcanism of Eastern Canada
  Volcanism of Eastern Canada has led to the formation of hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations, indicating volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. The region's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic...
  
  
• List of volcanoes in Canada