Great Meteor Seamount Circulation Revisited: Insights Into Cold‐Water Coral Habitat Potential

Abstract Seamounts play a crucial role in shaping deep‐sea ecosystem structure, influencing ocean circulation, enhancing biological productivity, and supporting diverse marine life. The Great Meteor Seamount (GMS), is the largest seamount in the North Atlantic and a key ecological feature in the regional network of the Protected Areas of the Azores Archipelago, but remains poorly understood in terms of small‐scale physical‐biological interactions. Using a new high‐resolution setup of the FlexSem hydrodynamic model, we analyze ocean circulation and water mass properties around GMS over a 9‐month period. The results reveal a persistent anticyclonic re‐circulation along the upper seamount slopes and doming of isopycnals above the summit. Variations in density and temperature drive two distinct circulation and mixing regimes: A cold, dense period with bottom‐intensified Taylor cap circulation and strong vertical coupling, and a warm, stratified period with enhanced stratification and reduced vertical mixing. The high resolution of the model makes it possible to compare habitat‐suitability maps for benthic filter‐feeding organisms with maps of internal wave slope characteristics, revealing a key role of internal wave induced mixing in supporting cold‐water corals and other benthic filter‐feeding communities. The study highlights the significance of biophysical interactions at the seamount and emphasizes the need for further research into small‐scale processes that support biological growth.