Precise location of unsurveyed seamounts in the Austral archipelago area using SEASAT data

Abstract

Summary. SEASAT altimetric geoid data are used to detect uncharted seamounts in the Austral archipelago area. The various physical parameters which affect the geoid signature of a seamount are inspected to analyse their influence on the precision of the location. These parameters are the shape of the seamount, its density, the crustal model, the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere and the distance between the seamount and sub-satellite tracks, respectively. The results of the tests performed on synthetic data as well as on charted structures show that when a seamount is detected on at least two neighbouring tracks, it is possible to locate it with good confidence and to give an estimation of its height. If the correct elastic thickness is assumed, the precision on the location is order 15 km.' Ten previously unsurveyed seamounts have been located in the Austral archipelago. It appears that they are emplaced along two well-defined azimuths (N 1 10°E and N 150'E) and that two parallel distinct volcanic chains form the Austral archipelago.