Seamount statistics in the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

We apply the wide‐beam sampling technique of Jordan et al. (1983) to approximately 157,000 km of wide‐beam profiles to obtain seamount population statistics for eight regions in the eastern and southern Pacific Ocean. Population statistics derived from wide‐beam echograms are compared with seamount counts from Sea Beam swaths and with counts from bathymetric maps. We find that the average number of seamounts with summit heights h ≥ H is well‐approximated by the exponential frequency‐size distribution: ν(H)=ν o e−β H. The exponential model for seamount sizes, characterized by the single scale parameter β−1, is found to be superior to a power‐law (self‐similar) model, which has no intrinsic scale, in describing the average distribution of Pacific seamounts, and it appears to be valid over a size spectrum spanning 5 orders of magnitude in abundance. Large‐scale regional variations in seamount populations are documented. We observe significant differences in seamount densities across the Murray fracture zone in the North Pacific and the Eltanin fracture zone system in the South Pacific. The Eltanin discontinuity is equally evident on both sides of the Pacific‐Antarctic ridge. In the South Pacific, regions symmetrically disposed about the ridge axis have very similar seamount densities, despite the large difference between Pacific plate and Antarctic plate absolute velocities; evidently, any differences in the shear flows at the base of the Pacific and Antarctic plates do not affect seamount emplacement. Systematic variations in ν o and β are observed as a function of lithospheric age, with the number of large seamounts increasing more rapidly than small seamounts. These observations have been used to develop a simple model for seamount production under the assumptions that (1) an exponential size‐frequency distribution is maintained, (2) production is steady state, and (3) most small seamounts are formed on or near the ridge axis. The limited data available from this study appear to be consistent with the model, but they are insufficient to provide a rigorous test of the assumptions or determine accurately the model parameters. However, the data from the South Pacific indicate that the off‐axis production of large seamounts probably accounts for the majority of seamounts with summit heights greater than 1000 m.