China to explore Earth's secret underwater mountains

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Chinese scientists on Monday started exploring a seamount named Caroline in the west of the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

A remote operated vehicle (ROV) will investigate the south side of the seamount to take videos and collect topographic information and biological samples, said Xu Kuidong, chief scientist aboard the ship and a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

What is the Caroline seamount?

A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach the water's surface, and is thus not an island, islet or cliff-rock.

Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly and are usually measure 1,000-4,000 meters in height from the seabed.

The Caroline seamount spans about 75 square kilometers, five times larger than it appears in sea chart. Its top, an oval basin, is 28 meters below the sea surface, according to latest statistics.

A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach the water's surface. /Wikipedia Photo

Never explored, the Caroline seamount is located in the south of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on the Earth, and is also part of the Caroline Ridge in the Pacific Ocean.

Rich in biological diversity

"We see many sea gulls and flying fish in this area, so we believe this seamount is rich in biological diversity," said Xu.

Prior to this exploration, Chinese scientists investigated other two seamounts in this area. After this, they will compare the three in terms of geology, biology and ecology.

"The distance between the other two similar seamounts we investigated before is 180 kilometers, but they are only 12 percent similar in terms of biology," said Xu.

"It's very interesting to find out what the Caroline has, as well as the reasons behind the differences of the three seamounts."

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency