The seafloor constitutes approximately 70% of Earth's surface. Thus, most surface geology on Earth is actually Marine Geology. Mapping of the geological features of the world's oceans remains among the most technically challenging activities of modern geoscience.

However, advances in computing and remote sensing technologies have greatly enhanced the ability of geoscientists to provide details of these most inaccessible regions of our planet. Use the following exercise to learn more about the geologic features of the seafloor.

Seamounts are volcanic mountains rising from the seafloor throughout the world ocean basins - there are many thousands of them worldwide, the majority of which have never been studied in detail. However, as seamounts are studied, they are added to a growing database containing information about their locations, elevations and other dimensions.

1. Go to the Global Seamount Catalog. At the interactive interface, click on the "Location" tab, then use the default settings to view the complete list of seamounts in the catalog. Spend a bit of time familiarizing yourself with the data interface. Note that you can retrieve a map of each seamount by clicking on the pale green "View" button under the bathymetric maps section.

2. Follow the link on the seamount list for Niu Seamount in the Gilberts Ridge chain.

3. Click on the "View" button to see a bathymetric map of the seamount. When the map displays, print a copy on which you will make some measurements.

4. Record the dimensions and elevation of the seamount from the index data.

5. Using your hard copy of the Niu Seamount map, create a topographic profile (or in this case a bathymetric profile) extending east-west at 4.45 North.

a. What do you notice about the summit of this seamount?

b. What does the morphology of this summit suggest about its geological history?

c. Based on your analysis of the bathymetric (topographic) profile, what type of seamount is this?

d. Can you locate the evidence for submarine mass wasting on this image?