From head to foot.

Abstract

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Seamounts (also called “guyots”) are undersea mountains that rise from the ocean floor, often with heights of 3,000 m (10,000 ft) or more. Compared to the surrounding ocean waters, seamounts have high biological productivity, and provide habitats for a variety of plant, animal, and microbial species. Seamounts are formed by volcanic processes, either as isolated peaks or as chains that may be thousands of miles long. In the Atlantic Ocean, the New England Seamounts form a chain of more than 30 peaks that begins near the coast of New England and extends 1,600 km to the southeast. Some of the peaks are more than 4,000 m above the deep-sea floor, similar to the heights of major peaks in the Alps.