Editing Seamount (section)

== Dangers ==
[[File:US Navy 050127-N-4658L-030 The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) in dry dock to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005.jpg|thumb|right|[[USS San Francisco (SSN-711)|USS ''San Francisco'']] in [[dry dock]] in [[Guam]] in January 2005, following its collision with an uncharted seamount. The damage was extensive and the submarine was just barely salvaged.<ref name="ssn711"/>]]

Some seamounts have not been mapped and thus pose a navigational danger. For instance, [[Muirfield Seamount]] is named after the ship that hit it in 1973.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nigel Calder|title=How to Read a Navigational Chart: A Complete Guide to the Symbols, Abbreviations, and Data Displayed on Nautical Charts|publisher=International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press|year=2002}}</ref> More recently, the submarine [[USS San Francisco (SSN-711)|USS ''San Francisco'']] ran into an uncharted seamount in 2005 at a speed of {{convert|35|kn|mph km/h|1}}, sustaining serious damage and killing one seaman.<ref name="ssn711">{{cite web|title=USS San Francisco (SSN 711)|url=http://www.ssbn611.org/uss_san_francisco.htm|access-date=25 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925023959/http://www.ssbn611.org/uss_san_francisco.htm|archive-date=25 September 2009}}</ref>

One major seamount risk is that often, in the late of stages of their life, [[extrusive|extrusion]]s begin to seep in the seamount. This activity leads to inflation, over-extension of the volcano's flanks, and ultimately [[Volcanic landslide#Flank collapses|flank collapse]], leading to submarine [[landslide]]s with the potential to start major [[tsunami]]s, which can be among the largest natural disasters in the world. In an illustration of the potent power of flank collapses, a summit collapse on the northern edge of [[Vlinder Seamount]] resulted in a pronounced [[headwall]] [[Escarpment|scarp]] and a field of debris up to {{convert|6|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} away.<ref name=oceanography-geo /> A catastrophic collapse at [[Detroit Seamount]] flattened its whole structure extensively.<ref name="Stanford-2005" /> Lastly, in 2004, scientists found [[Fossil|marine fossil]]s {{convert|61|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} up the flank of [[Kohala (mountain)|Kohala mountain]] in [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]]. Subsidation analysis found that at the time of their deposition, this would have been {{convert|500|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} up the flank of the volcano,<ref name="John Seach-Kohala">{{cite web|url=http://www.volcanolive.com/kohala.html|title=Kohala Volcano |last=Seach|first=John|work=Volcanism reference base|publisher=[[John Seach]], vulcanologist|access-date=25 July 2010}}</ref> far too high for a normal wave to reach. The date corresponded with a massive flank collapse at the nearby [[Mauna Loa]], and it was theorized that it was a massive tsunami, generated by the landslide, that deposited the fossils.<ref name="NS">{{cite journal | title = Hawaiian tsunami left a gift at foot of volcano | journal = [[New Scientist]] | issue = 2464 | pages = 14 | date = 2004-09-11 | url =https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18324641.900-hawaiian-tsunami-left-a-gift-at-foot-of-volcano.html | access-date = 25 July 2010}}</ref>