First Paragraph
Seamount research, more often than not, is carried out by highly specialized science teams with narrowly focused science objectives. As a result, different seamount science disciplines often do not collaborate or are not even aware of each other. However, it is obvious that interdisciplinary collaboration is the most successful approach to help understand the integrated chemical, physical, and biological systems at seamounts. The Seamount Biogeoscience Network (SBN) was founded to promote the necessary cooperation through workshops, publications, and the development of a database that allows all seamount sciences to share data. Among such data, bathymetric maps are the most fundamental to all disciplines.