Lead institution:
National Deep Sea Center – China
Seamounts are underwater mountains rising steeply from the seabed, with elevations exceeding 1,000 meters and either peaked or flat-topped summits.
SHOW focuses on seamounts, deep-sea habitats rich in biodiversity but marked by fragile ecosystems, aiming to advance scientific understanding of seamounts and develop solutions to address climate change and human activity impacts on these habitats in the Western Pacific and northern Indian Ocean.
Its objectives include: (1) Identifying biodiversity hotspots and assessing multi-scale connectivity; (2) Developing comprehensive inventories of climate-sensitive and climate-resilient seamounts; (3) Developing a comprehensive tool for identifying conservation priority areas; (4) Proposing an ecosystem-based environmental impact assessment framework; and (5) Establishing a high-level platform for sample and data sharing. SHOW will utilize samples and data obtained through high-precision survey operations and will share them with Digital DEPTH.
Start Date: 1/1/2025
End Date: 1/12/2030
Lead Contact: Xuewei Xu (xuxw@ndsc.org.cn)