Orca Seamount

Orca Seamount
Orca Seamount
	Location of Orca Seamount
	Bathemetric mapping of the seamount, mapped with the swath sonar system of RV Polarstern during cruise ANT-XI/3.
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 at the seamount.^[1] Thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms organism 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]

Geology[]

The submarine volcano is a Pleistocene-Recent shield volcano within the Bransfield Basin. The volcano has a base diameter of 20 km, and a height of 1000 m.^[7] Samples obtained from Orca seamount were identified as basalt and basaltic andesites, suggesting the existence of more differentiated products, such as dacites or rhyolites.^[8]

The area presents geodynamic extension conditions as a consequence of a complex interaction of the Scotia, Antarctic and ancient Phoenix gectonic plates.^[9] In fact, a Chilean scientific study suggested that seismic activity in the Bransfield Strait area as of August 2020 would be caused by the tectonic separation between the South Shetland Islands and the O'Higgins Land, and not to the Orca seamount as previously thought.^[10]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^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. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
^ Gonzalez-Ferran, O. (1991). Thomson, M.R.A.; Crame, J.A.; Thomson, J.W. (eds.). The Bransfield rift and its active volcanism, in Geological Evolution of Antarctica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 508–509. ISBN 9780521372664.
^ "CHILE DESTACA ESTUDIOS REALIZADOS POR INGEMMET EN EL MONTE ORCA Y REFIERE ACTIVIDAD EN VOLCÁN SUBMARINO DE LA ANTÁRTIDA". www.gob.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
^ Peña, Juan Patricio (2020-09-25). "Orca, el monte submarino considerado un centro volcánico activo en la zona de los sismos en la Antártica". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
^ Peña, J. (2021-01-26). "Estudio sugiere que actividad sísmica en la Antártica se debería a "separación tectónica" y no a volcán submarino". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.

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[Rodrigoetal2018-1] Jump up to: ^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.

[2] 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.

[3] "Name Details – Orca Seamount". Catalogue of Antarctic Names. Australian Antarctic Data Centre. Retrieved 2010-03-29.

[4] "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.

[5] Vulcano bransfield-strait hg.png

[6] "Orca Seamount". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2018-08-11.

[7] Gonzalez-Ferran, O. (1991). Thomson, M.R.A.; Crame, J.A.; Thomson, J.W. (eds.). The Bransfield rift and its active volcanism, in Geological Evolution of Antarctica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 508–509. ISBN 9780521372664.

[8] "CHILE DESTACA ESTUDIOS REALIZADOS POR INGEMMET EN EL MONTE ORCA Y REFIERE ACTIVIDAD EN VOLCÁN SUBMARINO DE LA ANTÁRTIDA". www.gob.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.

[9] Peña, Juan Patricio (2020-09-25). "Orca, el monte submarino considerado un centro volcánico activo en la zona de los sismos en la Antártica". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.

[10] Peña, J. (2021-01-26). "Estudio sugiere que actividad sísmica en la Antártica se debería a "separación tectónica" y no a volcán submarino". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-26.

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