Taukina seamounts are a series of seamounts on the Pacific Plate. The Macdonald hotspot and the Ngatemato seamounts are located nearby. The Taukina and Ngatemato seamounts were discovered in 1996 by the RV Maurice Ewing and both are named after families in Rapa Iti.

The Taukina seamounts are formed by small volcanoes, with heights of and widths of . They often feature a caldera on their summit. Tholeiitic rocks make up the seamounts.

Taukina seamounts

The shape of the Taukina seamounts resembles that of the seamounts that form on the East Pacific Rise. An alternate theory of origin is that the Ngatemato seamounts deformed the Pacific plate enough with their weight to trigger the eruption of magma.

Taukina seamounts

References

1996 in science

Geology of the Pacific Ocean

Hotspots of the Pacific Ocean

Oligocene volcanism

Seamounts of the Pacific Ocean

Taukina seamounts