Blake Plateau

In July 1880 George S. Blake under the command of Commander John R. Bartlett,{{efn|The Navy oceanographic ship {{USNS|Bartlett|T-AGOR-13}} was named in his honor.}} U.S.N., was working with sounding gear designed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Dwight Sigsbee in cooperation with Alexander Agassiz, who collected biological samples and examined the Gulf Stream running eastward from [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Cape+Romain,+Charleston,+South+Carolina&hl=en&sll=38.846224,-77.306373&sspn=0.098935,0.149174&oq=Cape+Romain,+South+Carolina&hnear=Cape+Romain&t=h&z=12 Cape Romain] when, in taking frequent soundings eastward, "depths on this line were unexpectedly small, the axis of the Gulf Stream being crossed before a depth of three hundred fathoms ({{convert|1,800|ft|m|1|abbr=off|sp=us}}) was found" with a bottom of "hard coral" and little life.{{cite book|title=Report of the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Showing the Progress of the Work During the Fiscal Year Ending with June, 1881 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1883 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=29–30 |url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/002_pdf/CSC-0080.PDF}} This was an early indication of the plateau that would in the future carry the ship's name. In 1882 Commander Bartlett described the plateau:

{{Blockquote|quote=Instead of a deep channel in the course of the Stream as reported by Lieutenants Maffit and Craven, and published in the Coast Survey Reports, our later soundings show an extensive and nearly level plateau, extending from a point to the eastward of the Little Bahama Banks to Cape Hatteras—off Cape Canaveral nearly 200 [nautical] miles [230 miles; 370 km] wide, and gradually contracting in width to the northward until reaching Hatteras, where the depth is more than 1000 fathoms [6,000 feet; 1,829 meters] within thirty [nautical] miles [34.5 miles; 55.5 km] of shore. This plateau has a general depth of 400 fathoms [2,400 feet; 732 meters], suddenly dropping off on its eastern edge to over 2000 fathoms [12,000 feet; 3,658 meters].{{cite journal |last1=Bartlett |first1=John R. |year=1882 |title=The Gulf Stream |journal=Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute |volume=VIII |issue= 20 |page=224}}{{cite web |url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/gulfstream4.html |title=The Gulf Stream-Chapter III-Gulf Stream Investigations made by the U.S. Coast Survey Until 1884 and those Contemporary with Them |last=Pillsbury |first=John Elliot |website=NOAA History |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |access-date=8 February 2012}}}}

Bartlett reported the scouring effect of the current on the plateau, noting that on each side of the current the sounding cylinder, a device for sampling the nature of the bottom with the sounding, brought up ooze. Within the current the "bottom was washed nearly bare", with particles being small and broken pieces of coral rock and so hard the sharp edge of the brass cylinder was bent.{{cite book |title= Report of the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Showing the Progress of the Work During the Fiscal Year Ending with June, 1882 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1883 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=36–37 |url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/002_pdf/CSC-0081.PDF }}

File:Blake Plateau profile comparison.jpg 35°N (a) is significantly different from that of latitude 31° 30′N (b). Both profiles are drawn using the same scale. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ocean Explorer)]]

Due to unusual features of the plateau, particularly scouring by the Florida Current and the Antilles Current that merge over the plateau to form the Gulf Stream,{{cite web |url=http://coastalmap.marine.usgs.gov/gloria/eastcst/geology.html#blakep |title=U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Mapping Program, USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, U.S. EEZ Atlantic Continental Margin GLORIA, GLORIA Geology Interpretation (See Blake Plateau) |author=U.S. Geological Survey |year=2007 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=7 February 2012 |archive-date=17 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017203538/http://coastalmap.marine.usgs.gov/gloria/eastcst/geology.html#blakep |url-status=dead }} mineral deposits, particularly manganese nodules, have long been of interest.{{cite journal |title=Manganese pavements on the blake plateau. (Abstract) |vauthors=Pratt RM, McFarlin PF |year=1966 |publisher=Science. 1966 Mar 4 |pmid=17739590 |doi=10.1126/science.151.3714.1080 |volume=151 |issue=3714 |journal=Science |pages=1080–2|s2cid=34992443 }}{{cite web |url=http://johnclarkeonline.com/2011/05/08/those-curious-manganese-nodules-from-cia-history-to-science-mystery/ |title=Those Curious Manganese Nodules: from Intelligence History to Science Mystery |author=John R. Clarke|date=8 May 2011 |author-link=John R. Clarke (scientist) |access-date=7 February 2012 }} Methane and other gas hydrates are also found on the plateau.{{cite web |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/deepeast01/background/explorers/interview_vandover.html |title=Interview with Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover |author=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |work=NOAA Ocean Explorer |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |access-date=7 February 2012}}

The Blake Plateau, once believed to be a "bleak, current-swept plain," was known to have some biological communities including Lophelia pertusa reefs that support communities{{cite web|url=http://www.safmc.net/HabitatManagement/DeepwaterCorals/Lophelia/tabid/247/Default.aspx |title=Lophelia pertusa |author=South Atlantic Fishery Management Council |year=2012 |work=Habitat Management - Deepwater Corals |publisher=South Atlantic Fishery Management Council |access-date=7 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204213030/http://www.safmc.net/HabitatManagement/DeepwaterCorals/Lophelia/tabid/247/Default.aspx |archive-date=4 February 2012 }} as well as communities supported by gas hydrates. In fact, by 2024 it was discovered that Blake Plateau has the world's largest known deep-water coral reef, comprising a 6.4 million acre reef that stretches from Miami to Charleston, S. C. The area is composed of nearly continuous coral mound features that span up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) long and 110 kilometers (68 miles) wide. One spot, nicknamed "Million Mounds", is the largest part of the reef. It is composed of a stony coral and is commonly found at depths of 656 to 3,280 feet. The reef was discovered during sonar investigations beginning in 2019, and was announced in January 2024.{{cite journal |url= |title=Mapping and Geomorphic Characterization of the Vast Cold-Water Coral Mounds of the Blake Plateau |journal=Geomatics |doi=10.3390/geomatics4010002 |doi-access=free |date=January 12, 2024 |volume=4 |number=1 |pages=17-47 |last1=Sowers |first1=Derek C. |first2=Larry A. |last2=Mayer |first3=Giuseppe |last3=Masetti |first4=Erik |last4=Cordes |first5=Ryan |last5=Gasbarro |first6=Elizabeth |last6=Lobecker |first7=Kasey |last7=Cantwell |first8=Samuel |last8=Candio |first9=Shannon |last9=Hoy |first10=Mashkoor |last10=Malik |display-authors=etal}}

Commercial fishermen have begun exploiting deep sea fish on the plateau with studies being undertaken on the viability of such fishing, as these fish, although large, grow slowly.{{cite web |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/04etta/background/fisheries/fisheries.html |title=Expanding Fisheries and Fishery Potential on the Blake Plateau |author=Kelly Filer |work=NOAA Ocean Explorer |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |access-date=7 February 2012}} Biological sampling of the deep bottom is difficult under the Gulf Stream with the consequence that the fauna is relatively poorly known.{{cite web |url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/04etta/logs/summary/summary.html |title=Estuary to the Abyss: Exploring Along the Latitude 31-30 Transect September 1, 2004 |author=George Sedberry |work=NOAA Ocean Explorer |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |access-date=7 February 2012}}{{cite journal |vauthors=Fautin D, Dalton P, Incze LS, etal |title=An Overview of Marine Biodiversity in United States Waters |date=August 2010 |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=e11914 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0011914 |pmid=20689852 |pmc=2914028 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...511914F |doi-access=free}} (See "Blake Plateau")

• [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110511222341/http://earth%2Dinfo.nga.mil/gns/html/history.html National Geospatial Intelligence Agency: Undersea Features History]

{{Notelist}}

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/islands01/log/sep28/media/sab_habitats.html Blake Plateau features (NOAA)]
• [https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/blake-plateau-southern-treasure-fs.pdf The Blake Plateau: A Southern Treasure] – NRDC
• [http://coastalmap.marine.usgs.gov/gloria/eastcst/geology.html#blakep U.S. Geological Survey GLORIA Mapping Program, USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, U.S. EEZ Atlantic Continental Margin GLORIA, GLORIA Geology Interpretation (See Blake Plateau)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017203538/http://coastalmap.marine.usgs.gov/gloria/eastcst/geology.html#blakep |date=2011-10-17 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|31|N|79|W|scale:5000000|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake Plateau)}}

Category:Plateaus of the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Marine geology