# Adams Seamount

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**Adams Seamount** (also known as **Forty Mile Reef**[2]) is a [submarine volcano](/source/Submarine_volcano) above the [Pitcairn hotspot](/source/Pitcairn_hotspot) in the central [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean) about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of [Pitcairn Island](/source/Pitcairn_Island).

## Geography and geomorphology

Adams is part of a field of about 90 [seamounts](/source/Seamount) 90 kilometres (56 mi) east-southeast away from Pitcairn Island, and the largest of these.[3] Adams lies southeast of another large seamount, [Bounty Seamount](/source/Bounty_Seamount).[4] Most of these seamounts except for Adams and Bounty are less than 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) high.[5] They were discovered in 1989 by the [RV Sonne](/source/RV_Sonne_(1968)) research ship.[6]

It is a conical[7] [seamount](/source/Seamount) rising 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) from the sea floor to about 39 metres (128 ft)[1] or 59–75 metres (194–246 ft) below the surface of the ocean.[2] The total volume of the seamount, whose base has a diameter of about 30 kilometres (19 mi), is about 858 cubic kilometres (206 cu mi).[8] Adams has two summits,[9] and [coral](/source/Coral) and sand derived from coral has been found on Adams.[5] Given its height, during the [Last Glacial Maximum](/source/Last_Glacial_Maximum) Adams was likely an island.[10]

Its slopes are covered by recent [lava flows](/source/Lava_flow), volcanic debris and [hyaloclastite](/source/Hyaloclastite).[9] Lava flows feature [aa lava](/source/Aa_lava) characteristics and [lava tubes](/source/Lava_tube), while deeper parts of the edifice are covered with [lapilli](/source/Lapilli) and [scoria](/source/Scoria).[11] [Parasitic vents](/source/Parasitic_vents) form cones and mounds on its flanks.[12]

## Geology

Adams and the other seamounts were created by the [Pitcairn hotspot](/source/Pitcairn_hotspot), and these seamounts are its present-day location.[3] This hotspot is one among several [hotspots](/source/Hotspot_(geology)) in the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean), along with the [Austral hotspot](/source/Austral_hotspot), [Hawaii hotspot](/source/Hawaii_hotspot), [Louisville hotspot](/source/Louisville_hotspot), [Samoa hotspot](/source/Samoa_hotspot) and [Society hotspot](/source/Society_hotspot).[6] The seamounts rise from a 30 million years old [crust](/source/Crust_(geology)).[13]

[Alkali basalt](/source/Alkali_basalt), [trachyte](/source/Trachyte)[9] and [tholeiite](/source/Tholeiite) have been dredged from Adams Seamount.[14]

## Eruption history

The fresh appearance of samples and the lack of sedimentation indicates that Adams Seamount is a recently active seamount.[3] [Potassium-argon dating](/source/Potassium-argon_dating) of rocks dredged from Adams Seamount has yielded [Holocene](/source/Holocene) ages, including one age of 3,000 ± 1,000 years [before present](/source/Before_present).[13] Other ages range from 4,000 - 7,000 years before present.[15] Unlike Bounty, Adams Seamount displays no active [hydrothermal](/source/Hydrothermal) system.[5]

## Biology

Adams seamount features a [coral reef](/source/Coral_reef), one of the deepest tropical reefs in the world. It is mainly formed by *[Pocillopora](/source/Pocillopora) sp.* and *[Porites deformis](/source/Porites_deformis)* corals, but also many reef fish and sharks; it is used as a fishing ground by Pitcairn.[2] Adams seamount is part of the Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve.[16]

## References

1. Retrieved 2017-02-28.

1. Irving, Robert A.; Dawson, Terence P.; Christian, Michele (2019-01-01), ["Chapter 34 - The Pitcairn Islands"](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081008539000427), *World Seas: an Environmental Evaluation (Second Edition)*, Sheppard, Charles (ed.), Academic Press, p. 751, ISBN 9780081008539, retrieved 2019-07-27

1. Garapić et al. 2015, p. 2.

1. Thießen et al. 2004, p. 418.

1. Thießen et al. 2004, p. 409.

1. Hekinian et al. 2003, p. 220.

1. Binard, Hékinian & Stoffers 1992, p. 261.

1. Hekinian et al. 2003, p. 228.

1. Binard, Hékinian & Stoffers 1992, p. 257.

1. Neall, Vincent E. & Trewick, Steven A. (27 October 2008). "The age and origin of the Pacific islands: a geological overview". *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences*. **363** (1508): 3293–3308. [doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0119](https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0119). [ISSN 0962-8436](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0962-8436). [PMC 2607379](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2607379). [PMID 18768382](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18768382)

1. Binard, Hékinian & Stoffers 1992, p. 259.

1. Hekinian et al. 2003, p. 229.

1. Guillou, Garcia & Turpin 1997, p. 244.

1. Garapić et al. 2015, p. 9.

1. Guillou, Garcia & Turpin 1997, p. 247.

1. Albert, Donald Patrick (3 July 2018). "Did or Could Seabirds "Halo" Pitcairn Island for Fletcher Christian?". *Terrae Incognitae*. **50** (2): 114. [doi:10.1080/00822884.2018.1498638](https://doi.org/10.1080/00822884.2018.1498638). [ISSN 0082-2884](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0082-2884). [S2CID 134051156](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:134051156)

### Sources

- Binard, Nicolas; Hékinian, Roger; Stoffers, Peter (June 1992). "Morphostructural study and type of volcanism of submarine volcanoes over the Pitcairn hot spot in the South Pacific". *Tectonophysics*. **206** (3–4): 245–264. [Bibcode:1992Tectp.206..245B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992Tectp.206..245B). [doi:10.1016/0040-1951(92)90379-K](https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(92)90379-K). [ISSN 0040-1951](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0040-1951)
- Garapić, G.; Jackson, M.G.; Hauri, E.H.; Hart, S.R.; Farley, K.A.; Blusztajn, J.S.; Woodhead, J.D. (July 2015). "A radiogenic isotopic (He-Sr-Nd-Pb-Os) study of lavas from the Pitcairn hotspot: Implications for the origin of EM-1 (enriched mantle 1)". *Lithos*. **228-229**: 1–11. [Bibcode:2015Litho.228....1G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015Litho.228....1G). [doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2015.04.010](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2015.04.010). [ISSN 0024-4937](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0024-4937)
- Guillou, Hervé; Garcia, Michael O.; Turpin, Laurent (September 1997). "Unspiked K-Ar dating of young volcanic rocks from Loihi and Pitcairn hot spot seamounts". *Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research*. **78** (3–4): 239–249. [Bibcode:1997JVGR...78..239G](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997JVGR...78..239G). [doi:10.1016/S0377-0273(97)00012-7](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273(97)00012-7). [ISSN 0377-0273](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0377-0273)
- Hekinian, R; Cheminée, J.L; Dubois, J; Stoffers, P; Scott, S; Guivel, C; Garbe-Schönberg, D; Devey, C; Bourdon, B; Lackschewitz, K; McMurtry, G; Le Drezen, E (March 2003). ["The Pitcairn hotspot in the South Pacific: distribution and composition of submarine volcanic sequences"](https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2003/publication-784.pdf). *Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research*. **121** (3–4): 219–245. [Bibcode:2003JVGR..121..219H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003JVGR..121..219H). [doi:10.1016/S0377-0273(02)00427-4](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273(02)00427-4). [ISSN 0377-0273](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0377-0273)
- Thießen, O.; Schmidt, M.; Botz, R.; Schmitt, M.; Stoffers, P. (2004). "Methane Venting into the Water Column Above the Pitcairn and the Society — Austral Seamounts, South Pacific". *Oceanic Hotspots*. pp. 407–429. [doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18782-7_14](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18782-7_14). ISBN 978-3-642-62290-8.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adams Seamount](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_Seamount) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_Seamount?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.