Sedlo Seamount
Encyclopedia
Sedlo Seamount is an isolated seamount
and underwater volcano located in the Northeast Atlantic, 180 mi (290 km) northeast of Graciosa Island. It has an elongate structure, roughly 75 by. The summit is flat with three peaks. Sedlo Seamount sits on the ocean floor 3000 m (9,843 ft) deep, and rises to within 660 m (2,165 ft) of the surface. Sedlo seamount has a tablemount structure, indicating that the peak of the seamount had once been above the water, but has since been ground down by persistent erosion to its current height. The seamount stands within the Exclusive Economic Zone
of the Azores
.
From 2002 to 2005, Sedlo Seamount was the target of a focused multidisciplinary study by the EU
(titled OASIS), much of the research of which was published in 2009.
Complex hydrographical patterns
with anticyclone
s and Taylor column
s cause water flow around the summit. Water eddie
s tend to disrupt this flow. A bottom trawling
experiment conducted during research brought up large orange roughy
(Hoplostethus atlanticus) aggregations, as well as bycatch
of benthic fauna
including sponges, gorgonians, and scleractinian corals.
European Commission
has enacted rules that protect Sedlo from bottom trawling
, gillnet
s, and trammel nets. In 2007, Portugal
proposed for Sedlo's inclusion in the OSPAR
series of Marine Protected Area
s. The motion was accepted in 2008, and a management plan for the MPA was being drafted. The MPA protects an area 62 by.
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...
and underwater volcano located in the Northeast Atlantic, 180 mi (290 km) northeast of Graciosa Island. It has an elongate structure, roughly 75 by. The summit is flat with three peaks. Sedlo Seamount sits on the ocean floor 3000 m (9,843 ft) deep, and rises to within 660 m (2,165 ft) of the surface. Sedlo seamount has a tablemount structure, indicating that the peak of the seamount had once been above the water, but has since been ground down by persistent erosion to its current height. The seamount stands within the Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
.
From 2002 to 2005, Sedlo Seamount was the target of a focused multidisciplinary study by the EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(titled OASIS), much of the research of which was published in 2009.
Complex hydrographical patterns
Hydrograph
A hydrograph is a graph showing the rate of flow versus time past a specific point in a river, or other channel or conduit carrying flow...
with anticyclone
Anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined by the United States' National Weather Service's glossary as "[a] large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere"...
s and Taylor column
Taylor column
A Taylor column is a feature of the coriolis effect. It was named after Geoffrey Ingram Taylor. Rotating fluids that are perturbed tend to form columns parallel to the axis of rotation called Taylor columns....
s cause water flow around the summit. Water eddie
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
s tend to disrupt this flow. A bottom trawling
Bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is trawling along the sea floor. It is also often referred to as "dragging".The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling...
experiment conducted during research brought up large orange roughy
Orange roughy
The orange roughy, red roughy, or deep sea perch, Hoplostethus atlanticus, is a relatively large deep-sea fish belonging to the slimehead family . The Marine Conservation Society has categorized orange roughy as vulnerable to exploitation...
(Hoplostethus atlanticus) aggregations, as well as bycatch
Bycatch
The term “bycatch” is usually used for fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. It may however also indicate untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting...
of benthic fauna
Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
including sponges, gorgonians, and scleractinian corals.
European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
has enacted rules that protect Sedlo from bottom trawling
Bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is trawling along the sea floor. It is also often referred to as "dragging".The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling...
, gillnet
Gillnet
Gillnetting is a common fishing method used by commercial and artisanal fishermen of all the oceans and in some freshwater and estuary areas. The gillnet also is used by fisheries scientists to monitor fish populations. Because gillnets can be so effective their use is closely monitored and...
s, and trammel nets. In 2007, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
proposed for Sedlo's inclusion in the OSPAR
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic
The or OSPAR Convention is the current legislative instrument regulating international cooperation on environmental protection in the North-East Atlantic. It combines and up-dates the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution...
series of Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...
s. The motion was accepted in 2008, and a management plan for the MPA was being drafted. The MPA protects an area 62 by.
See also
- Jasper SeamountJasper SeamountJasper Seamount is a seamount located in the Fieberling-Guadalupe seamount track, west of Baja California, Mexico. Jasper is the site of detailed geophysical geological and geochemical studies which suggest that many seamounts, big and small, follow the same pattern of growth and death that was...
- Graveyard SeamountsGraveyard SeamountsThe Graveyard Seamounts are a series of 28 small seamounts and ediffices located on the Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand. They cover about , and stand out from the surrounding oceanic plateau that measures several hundred kilometers...
- Mud volcanoMud volcanoThe term mud volcano or mud dome are used to refer to formations created by geo-excreted liquids and gases, although there are several different processes which may cause such activity. Hot water mixes with mud and surface deposits. Mud volcanoes are associated with subduction zones and about 700...
- Muirfield SeamountMuirfield SeamountThe Muirfield Seamount is a submarine mountain located in the Indian Ocean approximately 130 kilometres southwest of the Cocos Islands. The Cocos Islands are an Australian territory, and therefore the Muirfield Seamount is within in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone...
- South Chamorro SeamountSouth Chamorro SeamountSouth Chamorro Seamount is a large serpentinite mud volcano and seamount located in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc, one of 16 such volcanoes in the arc. These seamounts are at their largest in diameter and in height...