New England Seamounts | |
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Location | |
Location | North Atlantic Ocean |
Coordinates | 37°24′N 60°00′W / 37.400°N 60.000°W |
The New England Seamounts is a chain of over twenty underwater extinct volcanic mountains known as seamounts.[1] This chain is located off the coast of Massachusetts in the Atlantic Ocean and extends over 1,000 km from the edge of Georges Bank. Many of the peaks of these mountains rise over 4,000 m from the seabed.[2][3] The New England Seamounts chain is the longest such chain in the North Atlantic and is home to a diverse range of deep sea fauna.[3] Scientists have visited the chain on various occasions to survey the geologic makeup and biota of the region. The chain is part of the Great Meteor hotspot track and was formed by the movement of the North American Plate over the New England hotspot. The oldest volcanoes that were formed by the same hotspot are northwest of Hudson Bay, Canada. Part of the seamount chain is protected by Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
A variety of different names have been used to refer to this seamount range, including the Kelvin Seamounts, Kelvin Seamount Group, Kelvin Banks, New England Seamount Chain and the Bermuda-New England Seamount Arc (including the Bermuda Pedestal, which contains the archipelago of Bermuda and Argus and Challenger Banks, and Bowditch Seamount, and other seamounts intervening roughly between Bermuda and Nashville Seamount).[4]