Oceanography (Mar 2010)
Spotlight 11: Dom João de Castro Seamount
Abstract
Dom João de Castro is an isolated seamount located at 38°13.3’N, 26°36.2’W in the Azores archipelago (Northeast Atlantic), between the islands Terceira and São Miguel. The shallower parts of this seamount were formed in 1720, when a volcanic cone emerged from the sea that reached ~ 1-km across and 150-m high. This cone was eroded by ocean swells in just four months, and today only a large submerged caldera (300–600 m in diameter) remains whose bottom is at 50-m depth and its top at 13-m depth. Dom João Castro is an important fisheries ground both for demersal fish, such as the black-spot seabream Pagellus bogaraveo and the blue-mouth Helycolenus dactylopterus, and tuna pelagic visitors.
