Vema Seamount
Vema Seamount is a seamount in the South Atlantic Ocean. Discovered in 1959 by a ship with the same name, it lies from Tristan da Cunha and northwest of Cape Town. The seamount has a flat top at a mean depth of which was eroded into the seamount at a time when sea levels were lower; the shallowest point lies at depth. The seamount was formed between 15 and 11 million years ago, possibly by a hotspot.
The seamount rises high enough that its summit is at shallow depth, allowing sunlight to reach it and thus permitting the growth of kelp and algae. A number of sea animals and fish are encountered on the seamount; active fisheries existed at Vema Seamount and caused the disappearance of some animal species.
History
Vema Seamount was discovered by the research ship of the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory in 1959. Vema was one of the first seamounts to be the subject of scientific study, and the first seamount investigated by scuba divers without special equipment. It lies in international waters and its summit is so shallow that it is a navigation hazard to ships.Geomorphology and geography
Vema Seamount lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, from Tristan da Cunha. The cities of Cape Town and Lüderitz lie east-southeast and northeast of Vema, respectively; the distance from Cape Town is about. An unrelated seamount with the same name lies in the North Atlantic, close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.The seamount has a conical shape with a flat top; the shallowest point rises to an elevation of below sea level – later determined to be deep – and is called Collins Point. At least one source gives a minimum depth of for the seamount, while bathymetric surveys in 2015 have found a minimum depth of. The flat top is a summit plateau with a width of and according to a 2019 publication at a mean depth of and has been named Emerson Plateau; it has a vaguely triangular shape pointing west, and Collins Point lies close to the western margin of the Emerson Plateau. Other points on the Plateau also rise to depths of less than. The summit plateau mostly consists of hard rock, like the upper slopes, with rocky outcrops separated by sandy plains. The plateau appears to be a wave-cut platform of Pleistocene age, when sea levels were lower, and is swept by strong ocean currents.
The seamount rises from a depth of, where it occupies a breadth of and forms an isolated conical feature. The seafloor from which Vema rises is part of the abyssal plain of the Cape Basin. From there, the slopes of Vema first rise steeply and feature subsidiary summits; above depth, the slopes flatten.
Geology
Volcanic rocks such as tuff as well as calcareous aggregates are found on the plateau. Collins Point is composed of phonolite, which contains aegirine, alkali feldspar, augite, and nepheline. Olivine-containing basalt has also been found. A minimum age of 11.0 ± 0.3 million years has been obtained from samples taken at Collins Point by potassium-argon dating, with another age estimate being 15 million years. Older ages have been obtained deeper on the seamount; a sample from depth gave an age of 18 million years. Light-coloured rocks on the summit platform may constitute a former carbonate platform.Vema is an intraplate volcano. It is considered to be the present-day location of a hotspot, the Vema hotspot, although the hotspot itself may have moved farther south or west since it created the Vema Seamount and may not be active anymore. Earlier volcanism caused by the Vema hotspot may have manifested itself in southern Namibia in the form of alkaline volcanics that define a HIMU suite.
Seismic tomography has shown what may be a mantle plume underneath Vema, while another theory considers the Vema hotspot is a consequence of the Tristan hotspot shedding a secondary diapir. The hotspot origin of the Vema Seamount is not universally agreed upon.
Water conditions
Water temperatures at Vema range between, and decrease with increasing depth. The cold Benguela Current does not reach the seamount, which is instead influenced by the South Atlantic oceanic gyre. The movement and strength of ocean eddies are altered when they interact with Vema Seamount, with Agulhas eddies often splitting apart at the seamount. During the ice ages, sea level drop may have exposed part of the summit platform.Biology
The seamount features both shallow-water and deep-water life. Its summit is shallow enough that sunlight can reach it, resulting in the growth of various types of algae and seaweeds such as Ecklonia kelp. Such kelp covers large parts of the seamount, and a coral framework makes up much of the summit platform.A number of animals inhabit Vema, usually hidden or encrusting animals. Ascidians, black corals, non-reef-building corals including gorgonia and scleractinia, crayfish such as the rock lobster, and other decapods, holothurians, hydroids, polyzoa, sea fans, and sponges live on the seamount. Other animals such as bryozoans, echinoderms, gastropods, oysters, pelecypods, serpulids, and other worms have also left their traces on Vema. Rock lobsters propagate from Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha to Vema Seamount, while other species appear to originate from South Africa.
Several species appear to be endemic to Vema Seamount, including the sea-snail species Austromitra rosenbergi discovered in 2015 and the sponge Strongylodesma areolata described in 1969; it is estimated that about 22–36% of all species at Vema are endemic, similar to the proportion of endemic species at other seamounts of the world. The holothurian Holothuria vemae is named after the seamount, where it was discovered in 1965–1966, as is the sea snail Trivia vemacola. Vema Seamount is the type locality for the deepwater sponge Desmacidon clavata.
A number of fish have been encountered at Vema, although most fish species appear to be pelagic species that are not directly bound to the seamount environment. Fishing operations have attracted seabirds to Vema Seamount. Humpback whales have been detected through their sounds, and baleen whales feed at Vema. Euphausiids and copepods are also found in the waters, including at least one copepod that parasitizes fish. Among the fish species encountered at Vema Seamount are:
- Acantholatris monodactylus
- Decapterus longimanus
- Decapterus macarellus
- Emmelichthys nitidus
- Kentrocapros rosapinto
- Meganthias sp.
- Nelabrichthys ornatus
- Polyprion americanus
- Pristipomoides sieboldii
- Schedophilus ovalis
- Seriola lalandi
- Sphoeroides pachygaster
- Thunnus albacares
- Thunnus obesus
- Wreckfish
- Yellowtail