Seafloor terrain and sediment characterization at Molokaʻi, Lōʻihi, and Cross Seamount via seafloor mapping

Abstract

Research conducted between 27 Dec. 2010–4 Jan 2011 in Hawaii, at Molokai, Loihi, and Cross Seamount, combined seafloor mapping with sediment analysis to provide a comparison of different sediments over different terrain characteristics. The sediments from the sampling locations were dominated by a range of sediments, from coarse grained sands to very fine grained clays. The distributions of sediments were compared with the bathymetric terrain, whether samples were taken in valleys or on ridges over given slopes in the terrain, at both small and large scales. When comparing the results there was no evident relationship between sediment and either terrain characteristic, this could be a result of the limited number of sampling locations. Without further study the effects of seafloor terrain on sedimentation cannot be predicted via these methods.