M3.4 Seamounts, ridges and plateaus

M3. Deep sea floors biome

M3

Profile summary

Full profile at https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/M3.4

Brief description

These deep, lightless ecosystems are centred on major geomorphic features of deep ocean floors. These elevated features interrupt lateral ocean currents and generate upwelling of nutrients. This promotes productivity in surface waters, which returns to depths as detritus. The input of these resources, combined with varied rocky micohabitats, unlike the sand and mud around them, supports diverse communities of immobile filter feeders (e.g. sponges), mobile benthic organisms (e.g. molluscs and starfish), and large aggregations of fish, especially around seamounts.

Key features

Elevated geomorhic features with modified hydrography and heterogeneous habitat supporting high bnethic and pelagic productivity.

Overview of distribution

Elevated rocky topographic features rising from deep seafloor.

Map description

Major occurrences of seamounts, ridges and plateaus was based on the ‘mountains’ classes within the abyssal geomorphic unit of Harris et al. (2014b). Occurrences were converted to 30 arc second spatial resolution..

Map code and version: M3.4.web.orig v2.0. DOI

Version history

Profile versions

  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): E Ramirez-Llodra; AA Rowden; IG Priede; DA Keith.1
  • v2.01 (NA): NA.
  • v2.0 (2020-05-28): E Ramirez-Llodra; AA Rowden; IG Priede; DA Keith.
  • v1.0 (2020-01-20): E Ramirez-Llodra; AA Rowden; DA Keith.

Available maps

Read more details about the current map versions here.

  • Indicative Map (code: M3.4.IM.orig, version v2.0)
  • Web navigation (code: M3.4.web.orig, version v2.0)

Read more details about older or alternative versions of maps for this functional group.

  • Web navigation: requires review (code: M3.4.web.orig, version v1.0)
  • Indicative Map: discarded (code: M3.4.IM.orig, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation: in preparation (code: M3.4.WM.nwx, version v1.0)

References

Main references

References used in the different versions of the profiles.

  • Rogers AD (2018) The Biology of Seamounts: 25 Years on Advances in Marine Biology 79:137-224 DOI:10.1016/bs.amb.2018.06.001
  • Schlacher A, Rowden AA, Dower JF, Consalvey M (2010) Recent advances in seamount ecology: A contribution to the Census of Marine Life Marine Ecology (special issue) 31: 1-241.

Map references

References used in the different versions of the maps (current and discarded).

  • Harris PT, Macmillan-Lawler M, Rupp J, Baker EK (2014) Geomorphology of the oceans. Marine Geology 352: 4-24. 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.01.011

Footnotes

  1. This is the current version available at official site.↩︎