How are seamounts and guyots formed in the Pacific Ocean?

In the Pacific Ocean, seamounts are large, submarine volcanic mountains that originate primarily from lava extruded through the seafloor, often along linear rifts or spreading centres. These structures rise at least 1,000 metres above the surrounding deep-sea floor and are frequently found in linear clusters or chains.123

Guyots are a specific type of flat-topped seamount. Their formation is explained by a process of volcanic growth followed by subsidence:13

• Volcanic Origin: Guyots begin as volcanic islands formed at the shallow crests of mid-oceanic ridges or rises.1
• Erosion: While at the surface, these islands are truncated by wave erosion, which creates their characteristic flat summits.12
• Subsidence: As the seafloor migrates laterally away from the ridge crests, the crust cools, becomes denser, and sinks. This causes the formerly island-based volcanoes to submerge deep below sea level.12

This process is supported by the theory of plate tectonics and the subsidence theory originally proposed by Charles Darwin.4