Article

Submarine Geomorphological Features and Their Origins

Analyzed from Multibeam Bathymetry Data in the South
China Sea
Xiaolin Ou 1,2, Junjiang Zhu 1,2,*, Sanzhong Li 1,2, Yonggang Jia 3, Zhongjia Jia 1,2, Shengsheng Zhang 1,2,
Shaoyu Zhang 1,2, Ruixue Chen 1,2, Xingquan Chen 1,2, Dong Ding 1,2, Huilin Xing 1,2, Yanhui Suo 1,2,
Pengcheng Wang 1,2 and Yongjiang Liu 1,2

1 Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Lab of Submarine
Geosciences and Prospecting Techniques, MOE, College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China,
Qingdao 266100, China; [email protected] (X.O.); [email protected] (S.L.);
[email protected] (Z.J.); [email protected] (S.Z.); [email protected] (S.Z.);
[email protected] (R.C.); [email protected] (X.C.); [email protected] (D.D.);
[email protected] (H.X.); [email protected] (Y.S.); [email protected] (P.W.);
[email protected] (Y.L.)
2 Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resources, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology,

Qingdao 266100, China

3 Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering,

Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; [email protected]

* Correspondence: [email protected]

Citation: Ou, X.; Zhu, J.; Li, S.; Jia,

Abstract: We processed the raw multi-beam bathymetry data acquired in the central and northeast-
Y.; Jia, Z.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, S.; Chen,
ern part of the South China Sea by eliminating noise and abnormal water depth values caused by
R.; Chen, X.; Ding, D.; et al.
environmental factors, and a high resolution bathymetric map with a 20-m grid interval was con-
Submarine Geomorphological
structed. Various scales of seafloor geomorphological features were identified from the data, in-
Features and Their Origins
Analyzed from Multibeam
cluding an image of Shenhu canyon, which is located in the northern continental margin of the
Bathymetry Data in the South China South China Sea; submarine reticular dunes in the north of the Dongsha atoll; submarine parallel
Sea. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419. dunes in the northeast of the Dongsha atoll; and several seamounts in the southwest sub-basin and
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9121419 in the east sub-basin. In the processing step, various anomalies in the multi-beam bathymetry data
were corrected. The optimal swath filtering and surface filtering methods were chosen for different
Academic Editors: Alain Trentesaux scales of seafloor topography in order to restore the true geomorphological features. For the large-
and Chun-Feng Li scale features with abrupt elevation changes, such as seamounts (heights of ~111–778 m) and sub-
marine canyons (incision height of ~90–230 m), we applied swath filtering to remove noise from the
Received: 21 October 2021
full water depth range of the data, and then surface filtering to remove small noises in the local
Accepted: 9 December 2021
areas. For the reticular dunes and parallel dunes (heights of ~2–32 m), we applied only surface fil-
Published: 12 December 2021
tering to refine the data. Based on the geometries of the geomorphological features with different
scales, the marine hydrodynamic conditions, and the regional structure in the local areas, we pro-
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu-
tral with regard to jurisdictional
pose that the Shenhu submarine canyon was formed by turbidity current erosion during the Sag
claims in published maps and institu- subsidence and the sediment collapse. The submarine reticular dunes in the north of the Dongsha
tional affiliations. atoll were built by the multi-direction dominant currents caused by the previously recognised in-
ternal solitary waves around the Dongsha atoll. The submarine parallel dunes in the northeast of
the Dongsha atoll were built by the repeated washing of sediments with the influence of the tidal
currents and internal solitary waves. The conical, linear and irregular seamounts identified from
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Li- the bathymetry data were formed during the spreading of the southwest sub-basin and the east sub-
censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. basin. The identified seamounts in the multi-beam bathymetry data are correlated to deep magmatic
This article is an open access article activities, the Zhongnan transform fault and the NE-trending faults.
distributed under the terms and con-
ditions of the Creative Commons At- Keywords: multi-beam bathymetry system; seamount; submarine canyon; submarine parallel
tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre-
dune; submarine reticular dune; South China sea
ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9121419 www.mdpi.com/journal/jmse

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 2 of 26

1. Introduction
A multi-beam bathymetry system (MBS) is a kind of underwater measurement sys-
tem with full coverage, high precision and high resolution. Compared to the early single-
beam measurement system, the MBS can obtain seabed bathymetric values of multiple
measurement points in a strip zone with each transmit acoustic pulse, as developed from
“point-line” to “line-plane” measurement [1,2]. Due to its high-resolution imaging capa-
bility, MBS is widely used for seabed geomorphology surveying and scientific research
with various purposes. The previous geomorphological surveying of seamounts was per-
formed in the South China Sea basin [3–5], around the Mariana Trench [6], and on the
Alaska seamount chains [7]. Studies of submarine canyons have been carried out in the
northeastern Gulf of Mexico [8], in northwest Madagascar [9], and in Santa Monica Bay
[10]. Morphological studies of submarine parallel dunes have been performed in San Fran-
cisco Bay [11], in Monterey Bay [12] and around Dongsha island of the South China Sea
[13]. Research works about pockmarks have been reported in the northwestern margin of
the South China Sea [14], in the continental margin of western India [15], and in Saco Bay
[16]. Early researchers performed detailed analysis on various seafloor morphological fea-
tures and their origins in different seas. However, only a few early studies were mapped
in the complex topography of the seafloor and various submarine geomorphologic fea-
tures with different scales in the South China Sea due to limitation of the data quality of
the early systems.
The South China Sea is bounded by the Eurasian plate, the Pacific plate and the Indo-
Australian plate [17–21]. Active neotectonic movements and different types of seafloor
geomorphological features in the South China Sea were built with a complex tectonic
background. According to previous studies, the South China Sea can be divided into the
east sub-basin, the southwest sub-basin and the northwest sub-basin [22]. The topo-
graphic features and tectonic activities of the three sub-basins are different, and these
three basins have undergone different evolution processes [18,22–27]. Seafloor topo-
graphic and geomorphological features are the products of the interaction between inter-
nal and external dynamic forces. The internal forces control the spatial distribution pat-
terns of large-scale seafloor topography. Based on the seafloor topography formed by in-
ternal forces, the external forces transform the seafloor subsurface and build complex sea-
floor topographic features [28]. As a direct representation of submarine tectonic move-
ments, submarine topography and geomorphology are of great scientific significance to
the investigation of submarine resources, and the study of sedimentary process and tec-
tonic activity. In 1986, Pautot [3] carried out the first multi-beam bathymetry surveying in
the South China Sea, and identified some seamounts in the central sub-basin of the South
China Sea. With the application of early multi-beam technology, some researchers identi-
fied a variety of submarine topographical features in the South China Sea, including sub-
marine canyons in the Dongsha atoll area, in the Pearl River Mouth basin and in the south-
west basin of Taiwan [29–32]. Mounds, mud volcanoes, pits and submarine cold seeps,
which are related to gas hydrate leakage, were found in the southwest basin of Taiwan,
in the Qiongdongnan basin, in the Shenhu and Xisha areas [33–35]. Other geomorphologic
features such as submarine sand waves were identified in the Pearl River Mouth basin, in
the southwest basin of Taiwan, and in the Dongsha atoll area [36,37]. Seamounts were
identified in the southwest sub-basin, the east sub-basin and the northwest sub-basin of
the South China Sea [26,38].
Most previous studies mainly used the processed multi-beam bathymetry data to di-
rectly analyze the seabed topographic features of the South China Sea [4,5,13,39], but the
acquisition and processing of the multi-beam bathymetry data is rarely involved. The
widespread understanding of large-scale and small-scale bathymetry features is still ab-
sent in the South China Sea at present. In this paper, we process the newly acquired multi-
beam bathymetry data in the South China Sea by the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” in 2020. Ra-
dial anomalies and anomalies in the central beam area and the edge beam area are cor-
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 3 of 26

rected and eliminated. Two optimal filtering methods are chosen to apply to the raw ba-
thymetry data for different scales of seafloor morphology in order to obtain precise sub-
marine topographic maps. After the MBS data processing, we identified some typical sub-
marine geomorphological features, including the Shenhu submarine canyon in the north-
ern continental slope of the South China Sea, submarine parallel dunes in the northeast of
the Dongsha atoll, submarine reticular dunes in the north of Dongsha atoll, and sea-
mounts distributed in the South China Sea basin (Figure 1). We also analyzed and sum-
marized the geometries of the submarine geomorphological features, and finally made an
attempt to explain the origins of the submarine canyons, seamounts, submarine parallel
dunes and reticular dunes in the South China Sea.

Figure 1. Bathymetric map in the South China Sea and the elevations in its surrounding area. The background bathymetric
data is from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans [40]. The geological setting is shown in the index map on the
bottom-left. EU: Eurasian plate; PA: Pacific plate; PS: Philippine Sea plate; IN-AU: Indo-Australian plate.

2. Bathymetry Data Acquisition and Processing

We collected the multi-beam bathymetry data in the northeast and central part of the
South China Sea from the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” from July to October, 2020. All of the
ship track lines from the cruise are shown in Figure 1. We used CARIS HIPS and SIPS 9.1
software [41] to process raw multi-beam bathymetry data by correction and filtering steps.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 4 of 26

The final output was transformed to text files in ASCII format for plotting. Generics Map-
ping Tools (GMT) [42] were used to visualize the processed data. We used the GMT—
specifically the xyz2grd command—to set appropriate grid spacing. The other GMT com-
mands—such as grdimage and gradient, etc.—were used to map the final seabed topo-
graphic maps. The detailed data acquisition and processing steps are described in the fol-
lowing sections.

2.1. Multi-Beam Bathymetry Acquisition System

The Kongsberg EM122 Multi-beam echo sounder system was installed on the R/V
“Dongfanghong 3”; EM122 is a full ocean depth MBS [43]. The EM122 is mainly composed
of sonar transmitting and receiving arrays and processing units, real-time data processing
and monitoring units, and various auxiliary equipment (a GPS navigation and positioning
system, attitude sensors, a wave compensator, a compass, a sound velocity profiler, and a
time synchronizer). The transmitting frequency of EM122 MBS is 12 kHz, and the meas-
ured water depth ranges were from 20 to 11,000 m. The sounding accuracy is 0.3% water
depths. The detailed parameters of the EM122 are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Main parameters of the multi-beam bathymetry system [43].

EM122 (the R/V “Dongfanghong 3”)

Basic Principle Beam Forming
Main operational frequency 12 kHz
Depth ranges from transducers 20–11,000 m
Beam widths 0.5 × 1°, 1 × 1°, 1 × 2°, 2 × 2°, or 2 × 4°
Coverage sector 150°
Maximum strip width Six times the water depth
Maximum coverage width 30 km
Beam number 288
Range sampling rate 3 kHz
Sounding resolution 10–40 cm
Sounding accuracy 0.3% water depth
Beam spacing Equidistant, equiangle or in between
Maximum operating speed 16 Knots

During the field surveying, the transverse direction of the transmitted beam was
larger than the longitudinal direction, and the longitudinal direction of the received beam
was larger than the transverse direction [2,44,45]. The arrays of transducers below the
vessel send and reflect a fan-type sound beam with a narrow strip. The sound wave prop-
agates in the water, and is reflected when it hits the interface of the seabed sediment. Due
to the different distances between each reflection point and the transducer, the return time
of each echo is also different. The echo that reaches the transducer contains information,
such as the rough relief of the seafloor topography [45,46].

2.2. Bathymetry Data Processing

We collected and integrated different types of field data during the MBS acquisition,
including the configuration data of the vessel, beam angles, two-way travel times, sound
velocity, and the navigation of tracks. The raw multi-beam bathymetry data need several
processing steps to obtain the accurate submarine topographic values.

2.2.1. Sound Velocity Correction

The tidal correction was made onboard by determining the instantaneous changes in
the tide level through GPS carrier phase technology, and correcting the bathymetric data
directly. The central beam is transmitted vertically to the seafloor, so its acoustic paths are
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 5 of 26

regarded as a straight line, but the acoustic paths of the rest of the beams (larger than 45°
emission angles) are significantly bent due to the refraction [47]. Seawater is a kind of
flowing medium, and the difference of temperatures, salinities and depths (pressure) lead
to the changes of sound velocities and produce the continuous refraction phenomenon.
Therefore, the measurement beams emitted from different surveying areas reflect in dif-
ferent sound paths. We used the results of the sound velocity profile in the northern and
central part of the South China Sea to obtain the variation curves of the seawater sound
velocity with depth (Figure 2). The variation trend of the sound velocity with depth was
similar in the two surveying region. From the sea surface to 1000 m depths, the sound
velocity decreases sharply from 1540 m·s−1 to 1480 m·s−1, and continues to increase with an
increasing depth. During the raw-data processing, the measured sound velocity profile is
directly imported into the processing software to correct the sound velocity variations.

Figure 2. Variations of the sound velocity with depth measured by the sound velocity profiler. (a) Sound velocity profile
from the surface to a water depth of 2500 m in the northern continental slope of the South China Sea; (b) sound velocity
profile from the surface to a water depth of 4500 m in the central area of the South China Sea.

2.2.2. Bathymetry Data Editing and Filtering

We processed the raw multi-beam bathymetry data with manual editing and auto-
matic filtering. We edited manually and deleted the problematic navigation data, odd at-
titude data from the R/V “Dongfanghong 3”, and part of the noise points in the bathymet-
ric data. We chose swath filtering and surface filtering methods to filter the raw data (Fig-
ure 3). The minimum and maximum depth filters of different geomorpholocal features
were set based on scales and real bathymetric variations during the filtering. The depth
filters ranged from ~600 to 1650 m for the Shenhu canyon, from ~690 to 890 m for the
reticular dunes, from ~370 to 440 m for the parallel dunes, and from ~3490 to 4330 m for
the seamounts. The track distance was set to about three times the nadir depth, and the
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 6 of 26

angles from the nadir depth were set to about 70 degrees. Swath filtering can perform
filtering for whole-strip data, and is suitable for the removal of the strong noises in the
data. By using the swath filtering method, noises caused by various environmental factors
and unsuitable parameter sets are eliminated (Figure 3a,b). The surface filtering is suitable
to remove noise in a small range for the small-scale morphology (Figure 3c,d). For large-
scale seamounts and submarine canyons, we choose swath filtering and the surface filter-
ing to process the data successively. In order to avoid deleting the actual data, surface
filtering was only used for small-scale parallel dunes and reticular dunes. These filtering
methods are useful to enhance the identification of different scale topography and geo-
morphology features.

Figure 3. Two optimal swath filtering and surface filtering methods applied on the multi-beam bathymetry data: (a) noises
in the raw multi-beam bathymetry data; (b) the filtering result after the swath filtering after (a); (c) the surface filtering
interface of the bathymetry data after the swath filtering; (d) the filtering result after the surface filtering after (c).

2.2.3. Bathymetry Data Interpolation

In principle, the MBS can fully cover the measured area, but some areas with empty
values were generated during the acquisition caused by the large line spacing, data loss,
unreasonable parameter sets and error delete data during the data processing (Figure 4a).
In order to make the dataset complete, the bathymetry data needed to be interpolated for
the gaps (Figure 4b). We used the weighted average algorithm [48] to interpolate the pro-
cessed data. The advantage of this algorithm is that it can determine the weight by the
distance between the data unit in the null value area and the surrounding data unit, and
it is suitable for the interpolation of multi-beam bathymetry data.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 7 of 26

Figure 4. Anomaly correction and data interpolation of the multi-beam bathymetry data. (a) Anomalies in the central beam
area. The anomalies include abnormal bulges and data gaps. (b) The processed result after the filtering and interpolation
of (a). (c) The raw bathymetry data for seamounts. (d) The processed bathymetry data of the seamounts. The abnormal
bulges at the top of the seamounts were eliminated, and the data gaps around the seamounts were filled. (e) Anomalies
in the edge-beam area. (f) The processed results of (e). The “wavy anomaly” was removed and the data gaps were inter-
polated.

3. Bathymetry Data Anomaly Correction

After the simple processing of the multi-beam bathymetry data, the final bathymetry
map can be constructed directly, but some images may be distorted due to various errors
[49]. In the central beam area, the multi-beam bathymetry data contains obvious narrow-
band bulges and data gaps along the direction of the ship route (Figure 4a). In the strip
splicing area, a linear data gap was found to be vertical to the track lines (Figure 4a). In
the edge-beam area, the strip contains obvious “wavy” anomalies (Figure 4e) and radial
anomalies caused by attitude changes during the vessel turn-around (Figure 5b). In order
to accurately map the seabed topography, these anomalies require correction.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 8 of 26

Figure 5. Processing of the radial anomalies in the multi-beam bathymetry data. (a) The raw multi-beam bathymetry data
with purple linear anomalies and radial anomalies; (b) the purple linear anomalies processed by swath filtering; (c) the
final multi-beam bathymetry data after removing the radial anomalies by surface filtering.

3.1. Anomaly Correction in the Central Beam Area

During the data acquisition, the central beam is emitted vertically downward, and its
beam angle is generally small (~±5°) [47,50], such that the signals received in the central
beam area are directly reflected from the seabed and the high acoustic intensity of the
signal results in certain residual errors in this region. In our raw multi-beam bathymetry
data, a large number of narrow band anomalies and data gaps exist in the central beam
area (Figure 4a) and seamount area (Figure 4c). By applying the surface filtering method
many times in the central beam area, abnormal bulges (Figure 4a) were eliminated (Figure
4b). The weighted average algorithm was used to interpolate the data. The data gaps in
the central beam area and blank area (Figure 4a) are caused when separated data files are
combined; they are completely filled by the interpolation process, as well as those around
the seamounts (Figure 4d). After interpolation, the images of deep-sea plains (Figure 4b)
and seamounts (Figure 4d) are smooth and continuous (Figure 4).

3.2. Anomaly Correction in the Edge-Beam Area

During the data acquisition, the sounding sheath of the R/V “Dongfanghong 3”
showed vibration affected by strong wind and waves, and this caused a high frequency
resonance between the transducers and the vessel. The acquired data was inconsistent
with the real attitude of the transducer, and the bathymetric data did not receive effective
compensation. The regular “jitter”—“wavy”—anomalies occur on the data in the edge-
beam area (Figure 4e). This type of anomaly gradually increases to both sides perpendic-
ular to the track direction, and seriously affects the accuracy of the data in the edge beams.
To resolve this effect on the data, we applied a special filtering mode to remove the noise.
We used the swath filtering method to eliminate the obvious “wavy” noise, and then used
surface filtering to remove anomalies perpendicular to the track-line directions in the data.
By calculating the average water depths of the false values in the edge beam area, the
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 9 of 26

“wavy” anomaly was effectively removed by repeatedly running surface filtering on the
average as the filtering parameter (Figure 4f).

3.3. Correction of Radial Anomalies

A large number of noises in the bathymetry data were generated when the attitude
of the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” changed (Figure 3a,c). In the raw bathymetry data, the av-
erage water depths were of 3300–3500 m, and there were a lot of random noises in the
data. The maximum water depth was 6000 m for these noises to appear in a deeper-than-
average water depth in this region (Figure 3a). The noise in the data produce purple band
anomalies in the geomorphology images (Figure 5a). After repeated swath filtering, the
noises seemed to be completely removed, and the filter processing resulted in water
depths ranging between 3340 and 3520 m (Figure 4b). The final bathymetry data show
smoother variations of water depths with complete coverage, and the obscured scarps are
clearly visible (Figure 5b). Some noises and false values still exist after swath filtering (Fig-
ure 4c), but by the further application of the surface filter, these random noises and abnor-
mal values were successfully removed (Figure 4c). Radial anomalies are also removed us-
ing the surface filtering method for each anomaly stripe, and after local final surface fil-
tering, the seabed topographic features appear smoother and continuous on the multi-
beam bathymetric map (Figure 5c).

4. Results and Discussion

For a better understanding of the submarine geomorphological features, well-pro-
cessed and high resolution bathymetric data are required. However, during the acquisi-
tion of the bathymetric data, the sea condition (strong wind and high waves), variations
of ship speeds, the turning of the vessel and hull configuration designs (azimuth, pitch
and roll) will change and cause the horizontal position changes of the multi-beam trans-
ducers on the hull. These factors will lead to systematic errors for the position of the beam
footprint [45]. In addition, instrument noise, environmental noise and the unreasonable
parameter setting of multi-beam system cause the acquisition of false values [51,52]. The
attitude offsets of the R/V“Dongfanghong 3”were recorded in the configuration file dur-
ing the surveying, and the mount angle of the azimuth was 359.98°, the mount angle of
the pitch was 0.09°, and the mount angle of the roll was 0.05°. In our data processing steps,
we used the configuration of the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” and corrected the attitude errors
to eliminate the systematic errors, and then we filtered the random noise and false values
for the multi-beam raw-data. Finally we obtained accurate bathymetry data for the further
analysis of different submarine geomorphology features.
In our acquired bathymetry data, two different filtering methods were applied to the
different scales of seabed topography (reference heights). We classified the different scales
of the morphology features and sorted the different parameters for submarine canyons,
seamounts, submarine reticular dunes and parallel dunes with small scales (Table 2). The
incision depths of a submarine canyon are between 90 and 230 m, and we first used swath
filtering to remove the noises of the whole strips, and then used surface filtering to remove
noises in a small range. The heights of submarine reticular dunes are between 8 m and 32
m, and the heights of submarine parallel dunes are between 2 m and 20 m. The wave
height variations are small for reticular dunes and parallel dunes, such that using swath
filtering to correct water depth values would delete the real data values. Therefore, we
adopted surface filtering for small-scale features that highlight the real geomorphology.
The heights of seamounts (ranging in 111–778 m) are relatively large, so we chose both
swath filtering and surface filtering to process the data successively. Based on the accurate
bathymetry data after processing, we identified a submarine canyon, seamounts, very
large submarine reticular dunes, and large or very large parallel dunes on the seabed to-
pography of the South China Sea. There is a detailed discussion of the geometry and ori-
gins of these typical features in the following sections.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 10 of 26

Table 2. Seabed geomorphology scales and the optimal filtering methods.

Geomorphology
Length [m] Width [m] Height [m] Filter Methods
Features
Swath and surface
Shenhu canyon ~21,000 2000–3000 90–230
filtering
Reticular dunes 50–600 50–300 8–32 Surface filtering
Parallel dunes 100–1000 50–300 2–20 Surface filtering
Swath and surface
Seamounts 8200–23,000 2700–11,100 111–778
filtering

4.1. Geometry and Origins of Submarine Canyons

Submarine canyons are significant negative topographies located on the seabed; they
cut deep into the continental shelf and continental slope, and they indicate linear grooves
perpendicular or diagonal to the coastline [53–56]. By applying the processing techniques
to the acquired multi-beam bathymetry data, we identified a submarine canyon in the
Shenhu area of the South China Sea, which we call the Shenhu canyon (Figures 1 and 6).

Figure 6. (a) Bathymetric variations of the Shenhu canyon. The solid black line represents the central axis of the canyon.
The dotted black lines represent the vertical cross sections at the different segments. The location of the Shenhu canyon in
the South China Sea is marked in Figure 1a. (b) Geometry of the Shenhu canyon along six profiles. The V-shape geometry
can be observed in profiles 2–3 at the top segment of the canyon. Meanwhile, the U-shape incision is shown in profiles 4–
6 at the bottom segment of the canyon.

The Shenhu Canyon Group and the Pearl River canyon, located in the northern con-
tinental slope of the South China Sea, was found by the early bathymetry data [31,32],
consisting of 17 small N–S trending canyons. The Shenhu Canyon Group connects the
upper part of the northern continental slope of the South China Sea and the Pearl River
canyon. Our identified Shenhu canyon is one of canyons of the Shenhu Canyon Group,
and the tail of the Shenhu canyon is connected to the Pearl River canyon. The identified
Shenhu canyon has incision depths of 680–1460 m, lengths of about 21 km, and widths of
about 3–6 km. At the crest, the terrain of the canyon shows complex features with dense
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 11 of 26

furrows, and steep cliffs are seen. The bottom of the canyon is relatively flat (Figure 6). In
order to analyze the morphological characteristics of the Shenhu canyon, we extracted six
vertical cross sections through the central axis of the canyon. In the upper portion of the
canyon, the vertical cross sections show a V-shape incision geometry (profiles 2–3) and
the central axis of the canyon indicates a NNW–SSE trend with a narrow width and steep
slope (Figure 6b). At the lower portion of the canyon, the water depths increase from 700
m to 1000 m, and the incision depth of the canyon ranged from 160 to 200 m. There is a
turning point at a depth of 1100 m at the lower portion of the canyon, where the trending
of the canyon changes from NNW to NS. From the turning point to the tail of the canyon,
the shape of the canyon changes from a V-shape to a U-shape (Figure 6b, profiles 4–6).
The incision widths of the canyon increase from ~0.4 to 1.4 km from the upper portion to
the lower portion as the slope angles decrease from ~40 to 30 degrees down to the slope.
The water depths in the canyon increase from 1000 m to 1460 m, and the incision depths
of the canyon range from 90 to 230 m.
The formation, development and evolution of submarine canyons are a complex pro-
cess, which is affected by internal dynamic forces caused by tectonic movement and ex-
ternal dynamic forces such as the river erosion, gravity flow erosion and sea level changes.
Harris and Whiteway [57] divided submarine canyons into two types: the shelf-incising
canyon and the slope-confined canyon. The shelf-incising canyon develops on the conti-
nental shelf. If its head is connected with the river system, it is affected by both shelf ero-
sion and river erosion. If the canyon head is not connected to a river system, only the shelf
erosion occurs. The slope-confined canyons appear and develop only on the continental
slope. Shenhu canyon, which was identified in our study, was interpreted to be in the
group of to the slope-confined type. It is still not clear whether or not, in the early stage of
the formation of the Shenhu canyon, it was originated by shelf erosion. Greene and Hicks
[58] suggested that the Monterey submarine canyon developed during the Oligocene to
the early Miocene, and the head of the canyon was connected to the Salinas, Pajaro, and
San Lorenzo rivers. These three rivers were the main sources of sedimentary material of
the Monterey canyon [58,59,60]. With the frequent changes of the Pleistocene sea level and
climate, the canyon was repeatedly filled and eroded by terrestrial sediment and gradu-
ally transformed into the present form [61]. The Gaoping submarine canyon in the south-
west basin of Taiwan was believed to be formed by the fluvial erosion. The canyon was
flooded in the late Pleistocene, and the controlling structural features are intrusions of
mud diapirs and thrust faulting in the complex continental margin in the southwest
Taiwan region [62–64]. The head of the Gaoping canyon is connected with the Gaoping
river. The turbidities formed in the head of the canyon strongly eroded the Gaoping can-
yon [65,66]. Both the Monterey submarine canyon and the Gaoping submarine canyon are
shelf-incising type submarine canyons. The head of the canyon is connected with rivers
onland, and the main controlling factors are the shelf cutting and river erosion caused by
the sea levels falling.
Compared with the Monterey and the Gaoping canyon, the submarine Shenhu can-
yon is located in the Baiyun Sag. Based on the stratigraphic characteristics and divisions
of the Pearl River Mouth basin, the sea level of the South China Sea began to fall at 21 Ma
[67]. At the same time, the Baiyun Sag rapidly began to subside, and submarine canyons
were formed and developed with the increase of the slope degree of the South China Sea
continental slope [68]. Due to the sedimentation of the Baiyun Sag, very thick sediments
were deposited, and the fall of the sea level led the unconsolidated sediments to be unsta-
ble as they were saturated with water, and to slide along the slope. Under the erosion of
the turbidity current, grooves or furrows were formed. The basal shapes of the erosional
grooves are consistent with V-shaped surfaces identified on the vertical cross sections of
the Shenhu canyon in the upper portion (Figure 6b, profiles 2–3). As the sediments on
both sides of the furrows were subjected to continuous erosion and prone to collapse, the
sediments were transported to the deep-sea basin and the embryonic geometry of the
Shenhu canyon was build up with the major effect of long-term turbidity current erosion.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 12 of 26

4.2. Geometry and Origins of Submarine Reticular Dunes

The types of surface sediments in the north and northeast of the Dongsha atoll are
mainly fine sand and coarse silt, according to previous studies [68,69]. A large number of
submarine dunes are distributed in the Dongsha atoll. Based on Ashley’s classification,
the dunes were classified as small (0.6–5 m), medium (5–10 m), large (10–100 m) or very
large (>100 m) according to the spacing [70]. The dunes in the Dongsha atoll may be sand
dunes. The submarine reticular dunes distributed in the water depths of 370–440 m were
identified in the northern part of the Dongsha atoll in the South China Sea (Figures 7 and
8). We chose an east–west profile to analyze the specific morphological features of the
reticular dunes in this region. The topography of the reticular dunes (peak to trough) in-
dicates that the reticular dunes in the west of the profile are more dense than those the
east (Figure 8d). The extending direction of the ridge lines of the reticular dunes is in E–
W, NE and NWW (Figure 8c). The shape-types of reticular dunes are polygonal and elon-
gated types. We found that the major morphological feature of reticular dunes is mainly
banded type which are predominantly located at the west of the profile (Figure 8c). The
difference in heights of these reticular dunes is relatively small, and the maximum height
difference is only 17 m at the west of the profile shown in Figure 8f. The reticular dunes
at the east of the profile are sparse in density, and their shape is mainly polygonal. The
height difference of these reticular dunes is relatively large, and the maximum height dif-
ference reaches 32 m to the east of the profile shown in Figure 8e. The spacing of the retic-
ular dunes in the northern part of the Dongsha atoll ranges between 20 and 500 m (Figure
8d–f). Based on Ashley’s classification, these reticular dunes belong to large or very large
dunes.
We find that the reticular dunes are located at the areas between two parallel dune
regions, and the reticular dunes are separated by the Dongsha atoll (Figure 7). The ridge
lines of the submarine reticular dunes extend in two or more directions [30]. For the quad-
rilateral type, the ridge lines of the reticular dunes extend in two diagonal directions. For
the pentagons, hexagons and other polygon types, the ridge lines of the reticular dunes
extend in multiple directions. Previous studies showed that the ridges of reticular dunes
were formed simultaneously, rather than by the later transformation [71]. According to
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images (Figure 8a), there are a large number of internal
solitary waves [72,73] which appeared above submarine reticular dunes indentified in our
data. The interaction of the internal solitary waves with the seabed causes the oscillation
of the water body and produces dominant current flow in multiple directions (E–W and
SE–NW). Based on the bathymetric map, the ridge lines of the reticular dunes show ex-
tensions in the N–S and NE directions, and these reticular dunes are affected by internal
solitary waves propagated from the east to the west. The ridge lines of the reticular dunes
in the E–W direction are affected by the bottom currents, which are generated by internal
solitary waves at the Dongsha atoll. The multiple directions of the currents play a key role
in the formation of reticular dunes. The small-size pockmarks of the cracks in the shallow
water may indicate the small dunes in the unstable sediment environment; however, this
is hard to prove using our bathymetric data. The unorganized network of flat surfaces
separated by rectilinear troughs of dunes could be a polygonal network. These dunes
could be small in size based on Ashley’s classification [70], and these dunes could be su-
perimposition results of the variation of the bottom current and slow sediment transpor-
tation.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 13 of 26

Figure 7. Multibeam echo-sounder bathymetry in the narrow track line showing the reticular dunes and parallel dunes,
overlapped on the background bathymetric data from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans [40]. The locations of
the reticular dunes and parallel dunes are marked with arrows.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 14 of 26
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 15 of 26

Figure 8. (a) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image around the Dongsha atoll (modified after [72]). The ripples represent
the propagation of the internal solitary waves, and the black lines represent the wave fronts of the main internal solitary.
The yellow triangle represents the distribution area of the submarine reticular dunes, and a yellow dot represents the areas
where the parallel dunes are located. (b) Seismic reflection image collected in the northeast of the Dongsha atoll (modified
after [13]). The image shows the development of the internal solitary waves with high frequency oscillation above the
submarine reticular dunes. (c) Multi-beam bathymetric map of the submarine reticular dunes in the northeastern part of
the Dongsha atoll (polygonal and elongated types). The purple solid lines represent the extending direction (E–W, NE and
NWW) of the ridge lines of the reticular dunes. The detailed location of the reticular dunes is shown in Figure 1b. (d) The
vertical cross section (A–A’) of the reticular dunes shown in (c). (e) The vertical cross section (B–B’) of the reticular dunes
shown in (c). (f) The vertical cross section (C–C’) of the reticular dunes shown in (c). The maximum height difference of
the reticular dunes is shown in the sections.

Reticular dunes (Figures 7 and 8) are mainly distributed in the active area of the in-
ternal solitary waves in the South China Sea. The internal solitary waves are formed by
the interaction between the tides, the seabed, and the coastal topography in the Luzon
Strait of the South China Sea, and spread westward to the Dongsha area in the northeast
of the South China Sea [30]. According to the calculation of the X-Band radar data, multi-
channel seismic reflection data, ADCP data and MODIS data, the propagation velocity of
the internal solitary waves is usually between 50 and 300 cm·s−1, and the maximum wave
heights can exceed 100 m [14,74–76]. According to the statistics, the maximum velocity of
the bottom currents caused by internal solitary waves in the north of the South China Sea
can reach 200 cm·s−1, and generally are above 100 cm·s−1 [77]. Based on the analysis men-
tioned above, the movement of the bottom currents caused by the internal solitary waves
can build the different shapes of the reticular dunes in our study area. Internal solitary
waves can transport sediment particles with different particle sizes and affect the migra-
tion and accumulation of the sediments [78–80]. In the seismic profile around the Dongsha
atoll, high-frequency internal solitary waves in the water column appear above the sub-
marine reticular dune (Figure 8b). These high-frequency internal oscillation waves may
be a manifestation of the interaction of multi-directional internal solitary waves. By the
extraction and analysis of local bathymetric data along the profile (Figure 8c), the ridge
lines of reticular dunes were identified, and their extension directions were defined to be
in the E–W, NE and NWW directions. The shapes of the reticular dunes were classified as
the polygonal (quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon) and elongated types (Figure 8c). The
shapes of these reticular dunes may be correlated to the propagation of the internal soli-
tary waves. The early propagation of the internal solitary waves may be similar to the
present based on the distribution and geomorphological features of the reticular dunes
identified in our study.

4.3. Geometry and Origins of Submarine Parallel Dunes

Submarine parallel dunes are a kind of mound-shaped or crescent-shaped geomor-
phologic feature; the ridge lines of parallel dunes are perpendicular to the direction of the
water flow. They are formed by the re-processing of sedimentary materials under various
hydrodynamic interactions [81]. In our multi-beam bathymetry data, dense submarine
parallel dunes were identified in the northeast of the Dongsha atoll (Figures 1, 7 and 9a).
The parallel dunes are located at water depths of 690–880 m. The ridge lines of the parallel
dunes in the west of the profile are N–S-trending and change to NE–NEE-trending in the
east of the profile (Figure 9a). By the analysis of the vertical cross sections, we found that
the wave heights of the parallel dunes are roughly between 2 and 20 m, and the wave
heights and wavelengths gradually increase with the increase of the water depths (Figure
9b). The spacing of the parallel dunes is over 100 m (Figure 9b), and the parallel dunes
belong to very large dunes according to Ashley’s classification.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 16 of 26

Figure 9. Geometry of the submarine parallel dunes in the Northeast of the Dongsha atoll. (a) Multi-beam bathymetry
map of the parallel dunes. The detailed location of the parallel dunes is shown in Figure 1c. (b) Interpretation and classi-
fication of the parallel dunes. The blue circle represents the trochoidal type, the black circle represents the sinusoidal type,
and the red circle represents the bimodal type. (c) Typical geomorphological classification of the submarine parallel dunes
(modified after [82]).

There has been a strong hydrodynamic environment in the northern part of the
Dongsha atoll area for the last 10,000 years, and the seafloor sediments have been washed
and eroded by the underwater currents [36]. Based on the observational data around the
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 17 of 26

Dongsha atoll, the hydrodynamic force in this region is mainly from the tidal current [83].
The main direction of the tidal current in each season is NW–NNW. Besides this, the in-
ternal solitary wave process is relatively developed, and it can certainly shape the move-
ment effect on sediments in this region. In the Dongsha Islands and the surrounding areas,
the surface topography is obviously an atoll and a quasi-shoal area with shallow water
depths. The tidal currents accelerate in the Dongsha atoll and form strong underwater
currents. The bottom currents have a strong scouring and erosional effect on the seafloor
sediments [36]. The current flow velocity at the bottom of the South China Sea caused by
internal solitary waves can usually reach 100 cm·s−1 [77]; in the Dongsha atoll, there ap-
peared to be a lot of movement of internal solitary waves [72,73]. Such hydrodynamic
conditions are sufficient to produce the strong transport and deposition of sandy deposits.
Therefore, we propose that the internal solitary wave increases the hydrodynamic condi-
tions as it propagates from the Luzon strait to the east to the continental slope to the west,
which has a strong shaping effect on the parallel dunes (Figure 8a). Based on the geomor-
phological features of parallel dunes [73], they are classified as sinusoidal, trochoidal or
bimodal types (Figure 9c). The sinusoidal type has good symmetry on both sides and
shows a regular shape (Figure 8c). The pattern of the trochoidal type is gentle on the
upstream surface and steep on the downstream surface. Small dunes develop in the
peaks of parallel dunes. The bimodal-type parallel dunes show the features of two peaks
and second-order parallel dunes superimposed on the large parallel dunes between the
two peaks. In our bathymetry data, the sinusoidal type is less developed, and is distrib-
uted in the local area with water depths of 730–745 m, which may indicate that the velocity
of the rising tide is basically equal to the velocity of the ebb tide in this area. Parallel dunes
with the trochoidal type are most common in the northeast of the Dongsha atoll (Figure
9b) [82]. Parallel dunes with the trochoidal type may be caused by internal solitary waves
when tidal currents change direction and the movement of the tidal currents is unequal
to the velocity of the ebb flow in this region. Parallel dunes with the bimodal type are
basically distributed at the water depths of 740–750 m, and their formations are relatively
complex. When underwater currents pass over the crest of parallel dunes, they often dis-
sociate and produce a circulation flow on the horizontal axis [84]. We think that the circu-
lation flow on the horizontal axis generates smaller parallel dunes and can form parallel
dunes with the bimodal type.

4.4. Geometry and Origins of Seamounts

Seamounts are defined as seafloor atolls, and are distributed in the deep ocean. The
top surface of seamounts is below the sea level, and the elevation differences from the
bottom to the top of the seamounts are greater than 1000 m [85]. In the South China Sea,
seamounts are widely distributed in the total sea area. The development and evolutionary
process of seamounts can be related to the evolution of the South China Sea at different
stages. A number of seamounts were identified in our multi-beam bathymetry data of the
South China Sea basin (Figures 1 and 10). The morphological and geometrical parameters
of the identified seamounts are summarized and analyzed in details including summit
depths, basal depths, the summit radius, the basal radius, heights, the ratios between
widths and heights, distribution area and flatness (Figure 11). The morphological param-
eters of seamounts can distinguish seamounts with different morphological features, and
the relationship between them can reveal the evolution model of seamounts [86].
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 18 of 26

Figure 10. Multi-beam bathymetry map of seamounts in the southwest and east sub-basins. The background bathymetric
data is from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans [40]. The central band shows the bathymetry data acquired by
the R/V “Dongfanghong 3”. The red dotted line represents the location of the inferred Zhongnan fault [18,87,88]. The
purple dotted line represents the spreading center of the southwest and east sub-basins [88]. The magnetic anomaly stripes
(labeled C5 and C6) are from deep-tow magnetic surveying [88]. ZS: Zhongnan Seamount; LS: Longbei Seamount; BS:
Beiyue Seamount; ZBS: Zhenbei Seamount; HI: Huangyan Island; ZZS: Zhangzhong Seamount; SS: Shixing Seamount; XS:
Xianbei Seamount; CSC: Changlong seamount chains; FSC: Feilong seamount chains.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 19 of 26

Figure 11. Schematic map of the morphological parameters of seamounts. (a) Three-dimensional bathymetry map of a
seamount (Seamount M8); (b) geometry of the seamount. The extracted parameters for the seamount are marked on a
schematic diagram.

We identified and interpreted eight seamounts (hereafter called M1–M8) on the pro-
cessed multi-beam bathymetry map; the identified seamounts are mainly located in the
northeastern part of the southwest sub-basin and the east sub-basin of the South China
Sea (Figures 1 and 10). The parameters of the summit depths, basal depths, summit radius,
basal radius, heights and areal distribution of the eight seamounts were measured (Table
3). The ratios between their widths and heights, and the flatness of the seamounts were
also calculated (Table 3). Based on the processed bathymetry data and the geometry of the
identified seamounts, we classified the seamounts into three types: irregular, linear and
conical type. The M1–M2 seamounts are an irregular type, and M8 is a conical type. M3
to M7 are all of the linear type. The heights of the seamounts vary from 94 to 778 m, and
the average heights is 402 m. The summit depths of the seamounts are between 3485 and
4104 m, with an average depth of 3817 m. The distributed area of the seamounts varies
from 8.5 km2 to 119.8 km2. By our calculation, the ratios between the widths and heights
of the seamounts are between 0.05 and 0.22, with an average of 0.12. The flatness of the
seamounts is between 0.22 and 0.54, with an average of 0.36. The scales and area of the
seamounts identified in this study are relatively smaller than the surrounding seamounts
found by the early bathymetric data [3–5].

Table 3. Geometry and types of the identified seamounts.

Basal Summit
Summit Height Basal Ra- Area
Number Lat/Lon Depth Radius Ratios Flatness Type Trend
Depth [m] [m] dius [km] [km2]
[m] [km]
115°15′10″ E
M1 3854 4283 429 2 3.7 119.8 0.12 0.54 Irregular —
15°09′12″ N
115°29′48″ E
M2 3693 4236 543 0.9 4.1 19.6 0.13 0.22 Irregular —
15°19′08″ N
115°29′38″ E
M3 3485 4263 778 1.8 5.2 39.7 0.15 0.35 Linear NEE
15°21′20″ N
115°28′27″ E
M4 3873 4238 365 1.1 3.49 24.5 0.10 0.32 Linear NEE
15°23′42″ N
115°42′52″ E
M5 3813 4245 432 1.9 5.9 29.8 0.07 0.32 Linear NE
15°37′58″ N
115°44′35″ E
M6 4048 4250 202 0.9 2.5 10.9 0.22 0.36 Linear NE
15°31′06″ N
116°22′23″ E
M7 4104 4198 94 0.5 1.9 8.5 0.05 0.26 Linear NEE
15°55′35″ N
M8 116°42′53″ E 3666 4041 375 1.2 2.5 19.7 0.15 0.48 Conical —
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 20 of 26

16°57′09″ N
Note: Lat/Lon are the latitude and longitude of the seamounts. The height is the difference between the summit depth and
the basal depth of the surrounding seabed. The summit and basal radius are the arithmetic mean values of the long and
short axis radii of the seamounts. The ratios are the height compared to the basal radius. Flatness is the ratio of the summit
radius to the basal radius. “—” indicates that the seamount has no obvious direction.

There are a great number of seamounts in the South China Sea basin. Although the
seamounts in the different regions have different structures, scales and evolved processes,
the formation of seamounts is most likely controlled by tectonic movements. The sea-
mounts with the conical, linear and the irregular types are distributed in the southwest
and east sub-basins. Although there is an absence of magnetic stripes in our seamout
areas, the NE-trend of the identified linear seamounts is roughly parallel to the magnetic
anomaly stripes [87,88], which imply that the formation of seamounts is controlled by the
spreading of the southwest sub-basin (Figure 10). The Scarborough seamount (Zhenbei-
Huangyan) chains in the east sub-basin were formed by the spreading of the South China
Sea [3]. The spreading of the South China Sea was ongoing from 32 to 16 Ma [85], from 32
to 15 Ma for the entire basin [88], and from 32 to 20.5 Ma in the Southwest sub-basin [27].
The NE-trending linear seamounts—the Changlong and Feilong seamount chains—are
located in the southwest sub-basin, and their formations are related to the spreading of
the southwest sub-basin. The linear seamounts identified in our study (M1–M8) are lo-
cated in the northeast of the southwest sub-basin and the west of the east sub-basin (M1–
M8; Figure 10). The geometry of the linear-type seamounts implies that our identified sea-
mounts were formed during the spreading of the southwest sub-basin (Figure 12). The
spreading ceased at 20.5 Ma in the southwest sub-basin [27]. The spreading ages imply
that our identified seamounts were likely formed before the Miocene. At the locations of
linear seamounts M3–M7, very weak magnetic anomalies were measured, and the accu-
rate formation ages of the seamounts were difficult to determine.
The inferred Zhongnan transform fault [18,88] separated the South China Sea into
the southwest sub-basin and the east sub-basin (Figure 10). Due to the spreading of the
South China Sea, a large number of NE-trending fault structures were constructed [3,89].
The primary trends of the linear seamounts (Figure 12, M3–M7) are along the NE direction
and parallel to the magnetic anomaly stripes in the southwest sub-basin. The formation of
linear seamounts may be related the deep magmatic activity and the movements of the
NE-trending faults. The irregular (M1–M2) and conical type (M8) seamounts may be
formed by deep magmatic activity along the NE- and NW-trending faults. The activity of
the NW-trending Zhongnan fault could have had a key role in the formation of the sea-
mounts in this region (Figure 12). The determination of the accurate ages and composi-
tions of the seamounts require further drilling and sampling in the seamount domain ar-
eas in the future.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 21 of 26
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 22 of 26

Figure 12. Multi-beam bathymetry map of the identified seamounts in the South China Sea basins. The three types of
seamounts are interpreted as the conical, linear and irregular types. The (M1) and (M2) seamounts are the irregular type.
The (M3–M7) seamounts are the linear type. The (M8) seamount is the conical type. The black lines indicate the ridge lines
of the seamounts. The detailed locations of the seamounts are shown in Figures 1 and 10.

5. Conclusions
Newly acquired bathymetric data from 2020 by the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” in the
South China Sea were processed by the correction and filtering methods; from the pro-
cessed bathymetric data, several typical submarine geomorphological features were iden-
tified and interpreted. The optimal swath filtering and surface filtering methods were cho-
sen to be applied to the large- and small-scale seabed geomorphological features to obtain
an accurate seabed topography. A large-scale image of the submarine Shenhu canyon in-
dicated a base morphology of a V-shape in the top segment and a U-shape in the bottom
segment in the southern continental slope of the South China Sea. The incision depths of
the Shenhu canyon range between 90 and 230 m along the slope. The large-scale sea-
mounts with heights ranging from 111 to 778 m were interpreted as being grouped into
three types: conical, linear and irregular. The seamounts were identified in the northeast
of the southwest sub-basin and in the west of the east sub-basin. The very large submarine
parallel dunes with heights of 2–20 m and spacing of 20–500 m are found in the northeast
of the Dongsha atoll. The shapes of the parallel dunes are the trochoidal, bimodal and
sinusoidal types. The very-large reticular dunes with heights of 8–32 m and spacing of
over 100 m are found in the north of the Dongsha atoll.
The Shenhu canyon was formed by the turbidity current erosion during the Sag sub-
sidence and sediment collapse. The reticular dunes were constructed by the multi-direc-
tion dominant currents caused by the internal solitary waves around the Dongsha atoll.
The parallel dunes were built by the repeated washing of sediments with the influence of
the tidal currents and internal solitary waves. The identified seamounts with the conical,
linear and the irregular types were formed to the spreading of the southwest sub-basin
and the east sub-basin. The geometrical characteristics of the seamounts imply that the
seamounts are correlated to deep magmatic activity, the Zhongnan transform fault and
the NE-trending faults.

Author Contributions: X.O. and J.Z.; writing-original draft preparation, writing review and editing,
S.L.; review and editing, G.J.; project administration, Z.J., S.Z. (Shengsheng Zhang), S.Z. (Shaoyu
Zhang), R.C. and X.C.; data curation, D.D.; software, H.X., Y.S., P.W. and Y.L.; resources. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41831280;
91958214 and 92058211), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (202172002;
202172003), the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (42121005), and the National Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
(ZR2019MD036).
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board.
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the
study.
Data Availability Statement: Data Availability Statement: The General Bathymetric Chart of the
Oceans, https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gridded_bathymetry_data/.
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank crew members of the R/V “Dongfanghong 3” for their
efforts in the collection of the bathymetry data in this study. We used GMT software (Wessel and
Smith, 1998) to plot some of the figures. J. Z acknowledges support from the Youth Talents Program
of the OUC. Y. L acknowledges support from the Taishan Scholars (ts20190918) and Qingdao Lead-
ing Innovation Talents (19-3-2-19-zhc). Two anonymous reviewers provided very valuable com-
ments and suggestions that greatly improved the quality of our manuscript.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 1419 23 of 26

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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