Great Meteor Seamount Research Articles

Observation of an anticyclonic vortex trapped above a seamount

Observations of stratification and currents in the area of the Great Meteor seamount indicate the existence of an anticyclonic vortex above the plateau of the seamount. The most likely mechanism for the generation of the vortex was found to be enhanced vertical mixing on the plateau due to vertical shear in tidal currents. The shear is caused by bottom friction and baroclinic modes.

Great meteor seamount

Great Meteor Seamount (30° 00′N. Latitude, 28° 30′W. Longitude) has been surveyed on two recent cruises of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A minimum depth of 147 fm (269 m) was located on the flat summit surface which has an areao of about 560 square miles. Bottom samples and photographs can be related to a series of terraces that encircle the top of the seamount. Miocene Foraminifera from indurated ooze indicate the seamount is not younger than Miocene; and several alternative hypotheses are presented to explain the age relationship of the terraces to the summit surface.