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Nieuwerkerk - Emperor of China (NEC) Seamounts (Banda Sea): A multibeam

seafloor imagery analysis

Article  in  IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science · May 2023

DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Nieuwerkerk - Emperor of China (NEC) Seamounts (Banda

Sea): A multibeam seafloor imagery analysis
H K Febriawan1,∗, A B Nugroho2, G Alodia3, A Hascaryo4, A Fadillah4, N C D
Aryanto5, D Haryanto1, B Muljana6, C Endyana6, N P Purba7
1
Directorate of Research Vessel Management, National Innovation and Research Agency
(BRIN), Jakarta, Indonesia
2
Research Centre for Geological Disaster, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN),
Jakarta, Indonesia
3
Hydrography Research Group, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi
Bandung, Indonesia
4
Indonesian Navy’s Hydro-Oceanographic Centre (Pushidrosal), Jakarta, Indonesia
5
Research Centre for Geological Resources, National Research and Innovation Agency
(BRIN), Bandung, Indonesia
6
Department of Geology, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia
7
Department of Marine Science, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia
∗
E-mail: hendra.kurnia.febriawan@brin.go.id

Abstract. A new multibeam dataset of Nieuwerkerk and Emperor of China (NEC)

seamounts was acquired during the Jalacitra 2-2022 ”Banda” Expedition in the Banda
Sea region. This study discusses a morphometric analysis of the seamounts based on a
high-resolution bathymetry digital elevation model (DEM) and describes the
morphometric features, namely: slope, profile curvature, and aspect. Morphological
results indicate that the Nieuwerkerk seamount has an area of 2,416 km2 with a
maximum peak elevation of approximately 3,460 m above the seabed and 357 m below
the water surface. In the southwest of the Nieuwerkerk seamount, two new seamounts
were discovered, which are still unnamed and seem morphologically connected to the
Nieuwerkerk seamount. Each of the seamounts covers an area of 148 km2 and 220 km2 ,
respectively, with a maximum peak elevation of approximately 2,338 m and 2,053 m
above the seabed. Additionally, both seamounts have an elevation of 1,878 m and
2,017 m below the sea surface. Meanwhile, the Emperor of China seamount is located
southwest of the three formerly mentioned seamounts, with the maximum peak seats at
2,165 m below the sea surface. Seamount C is located in the west of the surveyed area
and it covers an area of 95.6 km2 with an elevation of 1,834 m above the seabed. The
results of regression analysis indicate that all of the features could be used for the
morphological classification.

1. Introduction
Several seamounts exist in Indonesia and are spread throughout the entire country. Some of those seamounts
could be categorized as submarine volcanoes such as Mt. Banua Wuhu, and Mt. Kawio Barat which are
located near Sangihe Island, and Mt. Nieuwerkerk and Emperor of China (NEC) volcanic complex which
is located in the Banda Sea [1]. While the three first volcanoes mentioned above are widely explored and
studied, the research on Mt. Nieuwerkerk is still limited.
Those volcanoes could be beneficial for the country such as deepsea mining (e.g. manganese), undersea
geothermal, fisheries, and tourism. However, those also could bring natural disasters such as earthquakes and
tsunamis. Based on its geological conditions, the study area has experienced a series of historical earthquakes and
tsunamis, from 1629 (Bandaneira and Seram Island) to 1983 (Ambon) [2].
Nieuwerkerk or Emperor of China is one of the seamounts in Indonesia waters and is located approximately

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

of 150 km Southeast of Wakatobi National Park. [1] explained that this seamount is stretched in the Northwest -
Southeast direction with a distance of 7 km between its peaks and creating a ridge namely NEC. This
paper argued that the shield-volcanic topography was dominated in these seamounts but is also
convinced that this seamount could be a potential heat source for the offshore geothermal resource.
Additionally, the existence of this seamount could be a potential natural disaster cause such as a
submarine earthquake and tsunami. For that reason, a comprehensive study of this submarine volcano is
essential by involving multi- discipline backgrounds. Of the studies involved that could contribute to
understanding this volcano is seabed morphological mapping. To date, acoustic remote sensing
techniques are the most popular ones in seabed mapping and classification [3, 4]. For instance, [5]
asserted that this technology offers an advantage to subsurface geological investigation due to the poor
accessibility in study area. Multibeam sonar, which is one of such technologies, can provide a dense and
seamless bathymetric Digital Elevation Model. The DEM could discover the morphology of the seafloor
through a morphometric approach.
Landform and seafloor morphology consists of a complex process such as tectonic evolution and volcano
growth. The morphometric analysis offers information to characterize that morphology quantitatively,
for example by determining the size and shape of the volcanoes [5, 6]. Another instance was shown by [7]
who revealed the driving process of a large seamount by analyzing morphometric derivation features. This
study presents a high-resolution multibeam bathymetry resulting from the Jalacitra 2-2022 ”Banda”
Expedition, which was organized by the Indonesian Navy’s Hydro-Oceanographic Centre (Pushidrosal),
Indonesia, in the Banda Sea. The bathymetry DEM was utilized to create three morphometric features
(slope, profile curvature, and aspect). The shape, dimension, and characteristics of the seamounts then were
determined using those features. Statistical relationship analysis was also carried out between each feature. It
is expected that the seamount characterization by far could provide a deeper understanding of the
processes shaping the Nieuwerkerk, the Emperor of China, and the newly discovered unnamed seamounts.

2. Material and methods

2.1. Study area and data acquisition

The study area is the area of Nieuwerkerk and Emperor of China (NEC) seamounts, approximately
150 km Southeast of Wakatobi National Park (Figure 1). The subset figure depicts survey lines planned
during the data acquisition. The seamounts are a part of the Banda subduction zone which the Indo-Australia
plate moves northward. The subduction system creates back-arc spreading where this mechanism has opened
and formed the Banda Sea. The opening quit after the collision of the North-west Australian plate occurred
in front of the Banda Sea. In the term of oceanographic conditions, the circulation in the upper Nieuwerkerk
is dominated by waterless from the Pacific Ocean, tides, and monsoon situation [8].
In this expedition, data collection is limited to multibeam bathymetric data, not to sediment and seabed rock
data collection for geochemical analysis. The Multibeam survey was carried out using RV Rigel 933, operated
by the Indonesian Navy’s Hydro-Oceanographic Centre (Pushidrosal), Indonesia from 16 June to 20 July
2022. The vessel is equipped with a hull-mounted Kongsberg EM302 multibeam sonar system (MBES), a
deep- water MBES that fully compensates the vessel position and motion (heave, pitch, roll, and yaw). Sound
velocity measurements were performed to correct the depth and navigational data were recorded via
differential GPSwith a positional accuracy of ± 1 m.

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Figure 1. Study area where Nieuwerkerk is located in the southwest of Banda Sea. Inset is showed the
planned lines in the Jalacitra Expedition 2022.

2.2. Data processing

CARIS HIPS SIPS 11.4 was used to process the raw multibeam data. First, all raw data were imported to
CARIS to display the coverage of the data. Then, sound velocity profile (SVP) data was input to correct
the raw data. However, a tidal correction was not applied during the processing due to the lack of a tides
station near the location. Moreover, the tide correction can also be neglected since the water depth is over
than 1,000 meters. Following that, a manual inspection was used to examine and remove the outliers along
the swath. After that, a DEM was created with a grid resolution of 50 m. Finally, the inspection and cleaning
were performed on the DEM to obtain the seamless final DEM.

2.3. Morphometric features extraction and analysis

Three morphometric features (slope, profile curvature, and aspect) were derived from the DEM using the
Benthic Terrain Modeler (BTM), an ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. According to [9], slope and aspect are
the first-order DEM derivation. The slope calculates the maximum gradient in the bathymetry of using 3
× 3 neighborhood pixels in the DEM. This study utilized the slope to determine the seamount shape.
Initially, the slope feature was created from the DEM. Then, the slope was reclassified using a threshold of 10◦
to delineate the seamount boundary. After that, the seamount area was calculated using the obtained boundary.

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

In addition, the aspect represents the surface direction, which the values calculated from 0 to 359.9◦. The
0◦ is measured from the north and increases in a clockwise direction. Profile curvature is the curvature of
the seafloor in the direction of the slope. This function is a part of the curvature function that is the second
derivation of the DEM and is calculated from the slope feature. [8] described that profile curvature could depict
seabed features which are parallel to the slope and could reveal the acceleration of the flow on the seafloor
(e.g., benthic, lava, or landslide). Thus, along-slope ridges and crests are able to reveal using this method [10].
Feature selection is an important stage to obtain suitable predictors for morphology classification.
In this study, this was performed by carried out a regression analysis to obtain the relationship between each
morphometry feature. The Nieuwerkerk seamount was chosen to represent the feature selection. Firstly, 200
random points were created inside the boundary of that seamount. Then, each associated value of each
morphometric feature was extracted and assigned to the random points. After that, a list of random points
containing morphometric values was analysed using linear regression.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Multibeam bathymetry

The Nieuwerkerk and Emperor of China (NEC volcanic complex) depicts a ring of seamounts stretch in the
northeast-southwest direction with a total distance of 184 km (Figure 2). Table 1 describes the shape and
dimension of each seamount. It can be seen that Nieuwerkerk seamount has the biggest dimension with an area
of 2,416 km2, stretches over 80 km in the NE - SW direction with a width of over 30 km. The Nieuwerkerk
and Emperor China seamounts have elongated shape summits with the direction of NE - SW. The three other
seamounts show conical shapes characterised by approximately the same dimension of length and width.

Table 1. Shape and dimension of the seamounts

Seamount Area Maximum Maximum Length (m) Width Direction
2
(km ) elevation elevation approx. (m)
above the below the sea approx.
seafloor (m) surface (m)
Nieuwerkerk 2,416 3,460 357 80,317 30,369 NE-SW
Seamount A 148 2,338 1,878 13,705 13,730 -
Seamount B 220 2,053 2,017 18,455 17,290 -
Emperor of 95.6 1,834 2,165 10,240 12,315 NE-SW
China
Seamount C 122.7 2,417 1,443 12,943 11,404 -

3.2. Morphometric feature extraction and analysis

The morphology of The Nieuwerkerk seamount (NWK) is characterised by complex structural and volcanic
features (Figure 3). It was likely that the Nieuwerkerk seamount was raised in a single unit of the continent
body. The bathymetric data shows that the seamount has an elongated-shaped summit area with NNW -
SSE striking direction. The peak of the seamount has approximately 357 water depth below the surface water,
and the position at 06◦ 23’ 25.63” S and 125◦ 16’ 24.32” E. Additionally, the flank of the seamount was likely
influenced by the strong erosional process as it is expressed that the flanks were incised by gullies. To the
west, two volcanic cones are existed, though the geometry of the summit shows a more conical shape. The
structural lineament of these cones shows NNW - SSE striking direction. To the east, there are relatively N - S
directions of the ridge features.

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Figure 2. Bathymetry digital elevation model (DEM) of the seamounts

The most prominent striking direction is in the south of the seamount. The slope data (Figure 3 (b))
depicts that this area was characterized by a high sloping edge (69◦) in the south of the seamount, which
stretches in a length of 48 Km in the southwest-northeast direction. It is suggested that it is a structure of the
lineament. Additionally, the seamount also depicts a varied profile curvature at the west, south, and northeast
sides of the seamount (Figure 3 (c)). The aspect map (Figure 3 (d)) also indicates a scrap with an area of
91.54 km2 (the area inside the red box in Figure 3 (d)). This feature is characterized by an anomalous
direction between the surroundings. This was also highlighted by [11], who revealed a landslide fragment by
analysing the aspect direction perpendicular to the aspect of the surrounding. The two other seamounts show
a smooth distribution of profile curvature and aspect, with a variety of slopes between 10◦- 28◦. This
indicates impeccable conical shapes. However, a different profile curvature trend and an anomaly trend of
aspect are shown at the west side summit of Seamount A, indicating a footstep of sediment movement with a
length of 1.5 Km.
The Emperor China seamount (Figure 4 (a-d)) indicates an elongated shape with the slope that varies
between 10◦-30◦. This seamount shows an incision of the summit with a direction of northwest-southeast.
This seabed feature has a dimension of 1.7 Km width in the Northeast direction and 5 Km length in the
northwest - southwest direction. This incision reveals a steep slope with a maximum value of 66.8◦ and facing
in the northeast direction. A small bulge with a diameter of 380 m exists in the southwest of the mountain with
a distance of 2.7 km from the top of the seamount. This feature is suggested as an erosional process that shapes
the summit.

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Figure 3. Morphometric Features of Nieuwerkerk seamount

Moreover, Seamount C depicts a semi-conical shape characterized by a smooth distribution of aspect

values (Figure 4 (e-h)). However, the aspect map reveals that there is a longitudinal feature with a length of
approximately 100 m on the north side of the seamount. This lineament has a direction of the northwest–
northeast with a maximum slope of 42◦. It is interpreted as the submarine landslide process. The slope and
profile curvature features indicate that this seamount has a flat-elongated summit. The peak has a dimension
with a length of 3.2 km in the west-east direction and a width of 970 m in the north-south direction.
Additionally, slope and profile curvature maps also reveal a deposited material exists on the east side of the
seamount. This feature has a length of 3.2 km from the top of the seamount.

3.3. Morphometric feature selection

Initially, each of the morphometric feature values was normalized to get the range of 0 to 1. This is due to
the different range of minimum and maximum values of each feature. After that, regression analysis of
each feature was carried out using Excel. Results of regression analysis indicate that all of the morphometric
features were weakly correlated with each other. [12] described that the correlation coefficient (R2) between
0 - 0.3 indicated a weak linear relationship. A highly correlated between two or more features indicate that
that feature can be grouped or be chosen into a single predictor for the classification, and vice versa [12].
This study obtained that the profile curvature and aspect features had an R2 value of 0.0109, and the R2 value of
0.0013 was shown by the slope and profile curvature features. In addition, the slope and aspect features also
indicated a small value of R2 with 0.0015. Thus, all of the features could be good predictors for
morphology classification.

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Figure 4. Morphometric Features of Emperor China and Seamount C

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1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

Figure 5. Results of regression analysis (a) Profile curvature - aspect, (b) Slope - aspect, (c)
Slope - profile curvature

4. Conclusions
This paper attempts to exhibit a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the Nieuwerkerk
and Emperor of China (NEC) seamounts, resulting from Jalacitra 2-2022 ”Banda” Expedition 2022.
Morphometric features (slope, profile curvature, and aspect) were extracted and analysed from the DEM. The
shape and dimension analysis of the seamounts were obtained according to the slope feature. It is noticed that
three seamounts including Nieuwerkerk and Emperor of China have elongated summits, while the conical
summits are depicted in the two other seamounts. Various scientific data generated from this expedition,
are expected to be important data and information to be considered in proposing seabed toponymy in the future.
In addition, feature selection using linear regressions is also performed and indicates that all of the features are
weakly correlated and suitable as predictors for future morphological classification. Future studies would aim
to investigate the use of selected morphometric features combined with other features to generate the
morphological classification map using a semi-automated method. In addition, we also would examine the
backscatter mosaic from the same sonar data to highlight the seabed hardness distribution in the study area

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 1st International Symposium on Eastern Indonesian Marine Ecosystems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1163 (2023) 012018 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1163/1/012018

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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Indonesian Navy’s Hydro-Oceanographic Centre (Pushidrosal), Jakarta,
Indonesia. The authors would like to thank the Hydro-Oceanographic Centre of the Indonesian Navy
(Pushidrosal) for initiating the Jalacitra II-2022 “Banda” Expedition. We would specifically like to thank
the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, the Commander of the Hydro-Oceanographic Centre, the
Committee of the 101st Years of Hydrographic Sciences Celebration in Indonesia, and the Commander and
Crew of the KRI Rigel 933 for carrying out the survey with the utmost dedication. We would also like to thank
all participating scientists in the first three legs of the expedition for their invaluable contribution and
discussions. All data sets are courtesy of Pushidrosal. Access to data sets can be made available by request
to pusdalops@pushidrosal.id.

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