Physical Feature: Seamounts, Guyots and Banks

Seamounts, Guyots and Banks share a common characteristic as biological hot spots that support abundant plant and animal communities. Photo Credit: Amy Baco-Taylor, WHOI

Although land areas are very limited in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at less than six square miles, the relatively shallow underwater habitats (0 – 600 feet below the surface) are extensive. Many of these habitats are submerged features known as seamounts, guyots and banks. Seamounts are formed from undersea volcanoes, but never reached the ocean's surface. Guyots are also formed from undersea volcanoes but were once above the surface of the ocean and have since submerged to form flat-topped undersea mountains. Banks are the most generally defined of the three, and are shallow areas compared to surrounding waters, and can be a submerged part of a land mass, such as Penguin Bank off Molokaʻi, a submerged atoll, or other feature. Banks are generally associated with other emergent features, whereas seamounts and guyots generally stand apart from other features. All three however share a common characteristic as biological hot spots that support abundant plant and animal communities, and many have been historically targeted by fishermen for their richness.

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