| Orca Seamount | |
|---|---|
 Bathemetric mapping of the seamount, mapped with the swath sonar system of RV Polarstern during cruise ANT-XI/3. | |
 Location of Orca Seamount | |
| Height | ~500 m |
| Location | |
| Location | Near King George Island, Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 62°26′00″S 58°24′00″W / 62.433334°S 58.400002°W |
| Geology | |
| Type | Underwater volcano (Seamount) |
Orca Seamount is a seamount (underwater volcano) near King George Island in Antarctica, in the Bransfield Strait. While it is inactive,[citation needed] last volcanic activity at Orca Seamount is judged to have occurred in the recent past as there are temperature anomalies in the seawater around the seamount.[1] Thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms have been found at the seamount.[1]
The crater rim is about 3 km wide and about 500 m above the ocean floor.[2]
The seamount was first named by Professor O. González-Ferrán of Chile in 1987, after the orca (killer whale) often sighted in these waters.[3][4] It was mapped and studied by the ship RV Polarstern during an Antarctic cruise (number ANT-XI/3) in 2005.[5] The variant name of Viehoff Seamount (approved in 6/95 ACUF 263) was named for Dr. Thomas Viehoff, a remote sensing specialist in marine sciences. Name proposed by Dr. G.B. Udintsev, Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry (VIG).[6]
- ^ a b Rodrigo, Cristian; Blamey, Jenny M.; Huhn, Oliver; Provost, Christine (2018). "Is there an active hydrothermal flux from the orca seamount in the Bransfield Strait, antarctica?". Andean Geology. 45 (3): 344. doi:10.5027/andgeov45n3-3086.
- ^ Hatzky, Jörn (2005): The Orca Seamount Region, Antarctica (Sect. 5.5.2). In: Peter C. Wille (ed.), Sound Images of the Ocean in Research and Monitoring, Springer-Verlag Berlin.
- ^ "Name Details – Orca Seamount". Catalogue of Antarctic Names. Australian Antarctic Data Centre. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ^ "GEBCO Gazetteer of Geographic Names of Undersea Features" (PDF). GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN). January 2010. p. 332. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ^ Vulcano bransfield-strait hg.png
- ^ "Orca Seamount". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2018-08-11.