Lea LeGardeur: History and Map of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

History and Map of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Lea LeGardeur | Middlebury College, VT, USA

Keywords: seamounts, canyons, seafloor, relief mapping

This poster investigates the geologic and social history of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The poster is intended to be an informational guide to the monument, which consists of three canyons and four seamounts. The main focus is a seafloor map of the area included in the monument, which covers 4,913 square miles, extending from Georges Bank to the edge of the United States’ territorial sea. The events leading to and the controversy surrounding the creation of the monument are presented in a timeline, alongside information on the ecology and the formation of the canyons and seamounts.

The poster draws on information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, news articles, and oceanographic, geologic and ecological studies. Data for the seafloor map comes from the Marine Geoscience Data System, hosted by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans.