Mission of the NRP “Gago Coutinho” ongoing in the Azores

The hydrographic surveys carried out by the ship NRP “Admiral Gago Coutinho”, on a mission in the Azores, have allowed to obtain information in great detail from the seabed, as shown in these images of the batimetric model of Banco do Cachalote about 50 Km west of the island of Flores.

The Cachalote Submarine Mount is a Guyot, an ancient island of volcanic origin, which was devastated by the erosion of the waves as evidenced by the flat surface of its top. Today its top is about 450 meters deep. Dates of basaltic rocks on this submarine hill estimate that this ancient island existed some 4.8 million years ago and that it had ceased to be above sea level until about 1.8 million years ago. That is, most likely when the Island of Flowers emerged about 2.2 million years ago already the Cachalote had ceased to be an island to become a Guyot.

It should be noted that this mission also has the collaboration of the Blue Ocean Foundation, EMECC, the Regional Government of the Azores and National Geographic under the Blue Azores project.