Echo Bank (also known as Endeavour Bank) is an underwater mountain, part of the Canary Islands Seamount Province and located southwest of the Canary Islands. Of uncertain geologic origin, it is part of a larger cluster of submarine mountains and rises to a depth of 255 metres (837 ft) below sea level. It has a flat top, indicating that it formerly might have emerged from the sea.
| Echo Bank | |
|---|---|
  Echo Bank Echo Bank (North Atlantic) | |
| Summit depth | 255 m (837 ft) |
| Location | |
| Location | North Atlantic |
| Group | Canary Islands Seamount Province |
| Coordinates | 25°24′N 19°26′W / 25.40°N 19.44°W[1] |
| Geology | |
| Volcanic arc/chain | Sahara Seamounts |
Name
editThe etymology of "Echo Bank" is unknown[2] but it is also known as Endeavour Bank[3] and the name "Echo Bank" might refer to a submarine feature discovered in 1925-1927 and so named after its reflective crest.[4] "Echo Bank" is also the name of an unconfirmed seamount south of the Sargasso Sea.[5]
Geography and geomorphology
editRegional
edit
Echo Bank is part of the Canary Islands Seamount Province (CISP), which reaches from north of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to southwest of the archipelago. This province aside from Echo Bank includes Tropic Seamount, The Paps Seamount, Ico Seamount and Drago Seamount but also Essaouira Seamount north of Lanzarote. Especially the southern among these underwater mountains are poorly studied;[6] together with the Canary Islands proper they form an important volcanic province in the Atlantic Ocean.[7] Aside from the seamounts, submarine canyons and large debris flows occur in the region[8] such as the Sahara Slide which has run around Echo Bank.[9]
Local
editEcho Bank rises from the continental slope to a depth of about 300 metres (980 ft) below sea level, making it the shallowest seamount in the region.[8] It has a almost circular[10] maximally 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) wide flat top like a guyot at a depth of 350 metres (1,150 ft). There are small depressions on the topi. Volcanic cones which reach depths of 255 metres (837 ft)[1] cluster in the central summit platform.[11] Around the summit lie terraces and scarps, with the terraces particularly pronounced on the eastern side[1] while the western side has only two.[12] This may reflect a slight tilt of the seamount.[13] The slopes of the seamount are steep and cut by curved slide scars and gullies which both reach lengths of 12–13 kilometres (7.5–8.1 mi). Echo Bank is 40 by 34 kilometres (25 mi × 21 mi) wide with a round shape and a 20 kilometres (12 mi) long ridge to the northwest and rests on a seafloor with a minimum depth of 3,700 metres (12,100 ft).[1]
Northwest of Echo Bank lies first at 90 kilometres (56 mi) distance[14] The Paps Seamount and after a group of submarine hills comes Ico Seamount, while southwest lies Drago Seamount and south-southwest lies Tropic Seamount[8] 200 kilometres (120 mi) away.[14] The San Borondón ridge connects the two seamounts.[15] Northeast from Echo Bank lies first Hierro Seamount and then the island of El Hierro.[16]
Geology
editThe geological origin of the Canary Islands Seamounts are unclear, with various hotspot processes as well as crustal and mantle phenomena proposed.[8] Volcanic activity at Echo and Tropic seamounts was probably focused and generated a circular volcanic structure, while at Drago and The Paps it was controlled by lineaments and thus formed elongated edifices.[17]
Composition
editDredging at Echo Bank has yielded basaltic lapillistones, carbonates, coral debris, intermediate volcanic rocks, limestone of hemipelagic origin, manganese crusts, sandstone of volcanic and calcarenite origin and vesicular basalt.[18] The volcanic rocks at the Canary Islands seamounts like those of the Canary Islands are classified as alkalic;[7] the basaltic rocks contain clinopyroxene while the rare intermediary volcanic rocks contain amphibole.[14]
Dredged samples of the ferromanganese crusts consist mainly of goethite and manganese dioxide and minor amounts of calcite, phyllosilicate and quartz.[19] The ferromanganese deposits which occur on the Canary Islands Seamounts including at Echo Bank reach thicknesses of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) and are rich in cobalt[20] and other elements of industrial significance; thus such submarine deposits have been considered to be targets for future mining efforts.[7]
Environment
editA number of separate water masses surround Echo Bank, which originate from regions such as the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic and Antarctica and are stacked over each other.[8] In general, the region is under the influence of the nutrient-poor waters of the subtropical gyre and the upwelling regions off northwestern Africa.[7]
Bottom net trawlings of Echo Bank have revealed remarkable findings[21] such as a rich decapod fauna.[22] African cuttlefish,[23] the barnacle Poecilasma aurantia,[24] the common cuttlefish,[25] the elegant cuttlefish[26] and the giant African cuttlefish occur at Echo Bank; the giant African cuttlefish is the most commercially important cuttlefish in the region.[27] In addition, the bobtail squids Rossia and Sepiola[28] and the ram's horn squid have been found at Echo Bank.[29] Shoals of fish were frequently observed on the seamount.[30] In 1960–1970, snapper fisheries at Echo Bank were replaced by cephalopod fisheries.[31]
Geologic history
editAn age of 72 million years has been established for Echo Bank.[32] The flat top of Echo Bank has been interpreted as having formed during subaerial erosion, implying that the seamount was once an island although the evidence for such is less clear than at Tropic Seamount[13] and alternative explanations for the flat summit exist.[17] Echo Bank is currently undergoing sedimentation and it appears to be volcanically inactive.[9] There is evidence of recent landsliding, however,[15] and cone-shaped topographic anomalies could indicate recent volcanism.[33] One of these landslides may have occurred between 339,000 and 869,000 years ago.[34]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Palomino et al. 2016, p. 128.
- ^ SCUFN 2003, p. 4.
- ^ SCUFN 2003, p. 43.
- ^ Egloff, Julius (1972). "Morphology of Ocean Basin Seaward of Northwest Africa: Canary Islands to Monrovia, Liberia". AAPG Bulletin. 56 (4): 702. ISSN 0149-1423.
- ^ Hanel, Reinhold; Marohn, Lasse; Westerberg, Håkan (12 July 2022). "No new evidence for an Atlantic eels spawning area outside the Sargasso Sea". Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 11778. Bibcode:2022NatSR..1211778H. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-14882-8. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 9276751. PMID 35821500.
- ^ Palomino et al. 2016, p. 125.
- ^ a b c d Marino et al. 2017, p. 42.
- ^ a b c d e Palomino et al. 2016, p. 126.
- ^ a b Palomino et al. 2016, p. 135.
- ^ León et al. 2022, p. 11.
- ^ Palomino et al. 2016, p. 131.
- ^ León et al. 2022, p. 13.
- ^ a b Palomino et al. 2016, p. 134.
- ^ a b c Schmincke & Graf 2000, p. 38.
- ^ a b León et al. 2019, p. 33.
- ^ Schmincke & Graf 2000, p. 2.
- ^ a b Palomino et al. 2016, p. 133.
- ^ Schmincke & Graf 2000, p. 75.
- ^ Marino et al. 2017, p. 47.
- ^ Torres Pérez-Hidalgo, Trinidad José; Ortiz Menéndez, José Eugenio; González, F.J.; Somoza, L.; Lunar, R.; Martínez-Frías, J.; Medialdea, T.; León, R.; Martín-Rubí, J.A.; Marino, E. (2014). Polymetallic ferromanganese deposits research on the Atlantic Spanish continental margin. Harvesting Seabed Minerals Resources in Harmony with Nature UMI 2014. Lisboa. p. 7 – via Academia.edu.
- ^ NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY 1970, p. 2.
- ^ NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY 1970, p. 16.
- ^ Jereb & Roper 2005, p. 74.
- ^ Southward, Alan J.; Lorenzo, José M.; Martín-García, Laura; Shalaeva, Kate; González, José A. (1 January 2017). "First account on deep-sea stalked barnacles from the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic), with an updated checklist of the Cirripedia, Thoracica and their hosts in the area". Crustaceana. 90 (13): 1579. doi:10.1163/15685403-00003708. ISSN 1568-5403.
- ^ Jereb & Roper 2005, p. 100.
- ^ Jereb & Roper 2005, p. 80.
- ^ Jereb & Roper 2005, p. 88.
- ^ Clarke 2006, p. 41.
- ^ Clarke 2006, p. 37.
- ^ Hargreaves, P. M. (1 February 1975). "Some observations on the relative abundance of biological sound scatters in the North-eastern Atlantic Ocean, with particular reference to apparent fish shoals". Marine Biology. 29 (1): 84. doi:10.1007/BF00395529. ISSN 1432-1793. S2CID 62802361.
- ^ Jereb & Roper 2005, p. 18.
- ^ Marino et al. 2023, p. 2.
- ^ León et al. 2019, p. 34.
- ^ León et al. 2022, p. 19.
Sources
edit- Clarke, Malcolm R. (2006). "Oceanic cephalopod distribution and species diversity in the eastern north Atlantic" (PDF). Arquipélago – Life and Marine Sciences. 23A: 27–46. hdl:10400.3/195.
- Jereb, P.; Roper, C.F.E. (2005). "CEPHALOPODS OF THE WORLDAN ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF SPECIES KNOWN TO DATE: Chambered Nautiluses and Sepioids(Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae)". FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. 1 (4). ISSN 1020-8682.
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY (1970). "R.R.S. DISCOVERY CRUISE 30 REPORT OCTOBER — DECEMBER 1969 VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ZOOPLANKTON AT I8°N 25°W N." (PDF).
- León, Ricardo; Palomino, Desirée; Vázquez, Juan-Tomás; Medialdea, Teresa; Somoza, Luis (March 2019). "A new scenario for the mass transport deposits west Canary volcanic province". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 509: 27–37. Bibcode:2019E&PSL.509...27L. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.12.020. S2CID 134099994.
- León, R.; Palomino, D.; Sánchez-Guillamón, O.; Fernández-Salas, L.M.; Vázquez, J.T. (March 2022). "Tectonic control on sedimentary dynamics in intraplate oceanic settings: A geomorphological image of the eastern Canary Basin and insights on its middle-upper Miocene to quaternary volcano-tectonic-sedimentary evolution". Marine Geology. 445: 106737. Bibcode:2022MGeol.44506737L. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2022.106737. hdl:10261/320203. S2CID 246512383.
- Marino, E.; González, F. J.; Somoza, L.; Lunar, R.; Ortega, L.; Vázquez, J. T.; Reyes, J.; Bellido, E. (1 July 2017). "Strategic and rare elements in Cretaceous-Cenozoic cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts from seamounts in the Canary Island Seamount Province (northeastern tropical Atlantic)". Ore Geology Reviews. 87: 41–61. Bibcode:2017OGRv...87...41M. doi:10.1016/j.oregeorev.2016.10.005.
- Marino, E.; González, F.J.; Kuhn, T.; Madureira, P.; Somoza, L.; Medialdea, T.; Lobato, A.; Miguel, C.; Reyes, J.; Oeser, M. (October 2023). "Factors controlling rare earth element plus yttrium enrichment in Fe Mn crusts from Canary Islands Seamounts (NE Central Atlantic)". Marine Geology. 464: 107144. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2023.107144.
- Palomino, Desirée; Vázquez, Juan-Tomás; Somoza, Luis; León, Ricardo; López-González, Nieves; Medialdea, Teresa; Fernández-Salas, Luis-Miguel; González, Francisco-Javier; Rengel, Juan Antonio (15 February 2016). "Geomorphological features in the southern Canary Island Volcanic Province: The importance of volcanic processes and massive slope instabilities associated with seamounts". Geomorphology. 255: 125–139. Bibcode:2016Geomo.255..125P. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.12.016. hdl:10261/277037. ISSN 0169-555X.
- Schmincke, H.U.; Graf, G. (2000). "DECOS / OMEX II, Cruise No. 43, 25 November 1998 -14 January 1999" (PDF). METEOR-Berichte. ISSN 0936-8957.
- SCUFN (2003). Summary Report (PDF). Sixteenth meeting of the GEBCO Subcommittee on Undersea Feature Names. International Hydrographic Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-04. Retrieved 2019-02-10.