Eratosthenes Seamount

Eratosthenes Seamount
Bathymetric features south of Cyprus
Summit depth	690 m (2,264 ft)
Height	2,000 m (6,562 ft)
Summit area	120 km × 80 km (75 mi × 50 mi)
Location
Location	Eastern Mediterranean
Group	Eratosthenes Abyssal Plain
Country	33°40′N 32°40′E / 33.667°N 32.667°E / 33.667; 32.667Coordinates: 33°40′N 32°40′E / 33.667°N 32.667°E / 33.667; 32.667
Geology
Type	Seamount (continental fragment)

The Eratosthenes Seamount is a seamount in the Eastern Mediterranean about 100 km south of western Cyprus. It is a large, submerged massif, about 120 km long and 80 km wide. Its peak lies at the depth of 690 m and it rises 2000 m above the surrounding seafloor, which is located at the depth of up to 2,700 m and is a part of the Eratosthenes Abyssal Plain. It is one of the largest features on the Eastern Mediterranean seafloor.

In 2010 and 2012 the Ocean Exploration Trust's vessel EV Nautilus explored the seamount looking for shipwrecks. Three were found; two were Ottoman vessels from the 19th century and the third was from the 4th century BC. Such seamounts are considered to be ideal for the preservation of shipwrecks because at depths of around 600 metres the areas are not disturbed by trawlers or by sediments coming off land.^[1]

See also

• CenSeam
• Ferdinandea

References

External links

• Mart, Yossi and Robertson, Alastair H. F. (1998). Eratosthenes Seamount: an oceanographic yardstick recording the Late Mesozoic-Tertiary geological history of the Eastern Mediterranean, in Robertson, A.H.F., Emeis, K.-C., Richter, C., and Camerlenghi, A. (eds.), Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, Vol. 160, Chapter 52, 701–708.
• Kempler, Ditza (1998). Eratosthenes Seamount: the possible spearhead of incipient continental collision in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Robertson, A.H.F., Emeis, K.-C., Richter, C., and Camerlenghi, A. (eds.), Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, Vol. 160, Chapter 53, 709–721.
• Earthref entry