Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone

This area of high biological activity results from seafloor complexity when a colossal cold mass of subpolar water frequently collides with an even larger warm mass of subtropical water over an arrow-straight seafloor feature called a 'fracture zone.'

The waters far above the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone provide a phenomenal abundance of copepods, krill, squid, and octopuses that flourish in this high-nutrient convergence zone supporting many threatened and declining species of deep-sea sharks, great whales, dolphins, and seabirds. Surrounding the fracture zone are shallow seamounts rising from the seafloor with summits within 1,500 meters of the surface. These seamounts provide homes for invertebrate animals and migrating fish species.