Draft:Schulz Bank

The Schulz Bank, previously known as Schultz Massif Seamount, is a seamount located on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge system at 73 degrees north. . It lies between Svalbard, Norway and Greenland, at the transitional point between Mohns Ridge and Knipovich Ridge. The seamount ranges from a depth of 2700 meters at the base to 580 meters at the summit. It is located in proximity to a number of hydrothermal vents, such as Loki's Castle and Mohn's Treasure.

Schulz Bank hosts diverse sponge grounds on the summit, flanks, and base, making it a site of biological interest.

Hydrology
The seamount interacts with three main water masses. There is the warm and salty Norwegian Atlantic Water above the seamount summit; Norwegian Arctic Intermediate Water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Intermediate_Water) on the summit and flanks; and the cold and dense Norwegian Deep Water at the lower flanks and base of the seamount.

The summit and upper slopes of Schulz Bank are subjected to internal waves and strong storm events, causing currents to infrequently reach speeds up to 72 cm per second. The internal waves on the summit are thought to supply food to the inhabitants of the summit sponge ground.

Biology
Schulz Bank was one of the case study site for the Horizon 2020 funded SponGES project because of the dense and biologically diverse sponge ground on the summit. The summit sponge ground is dominated by large glass sponges and demosponges, particularly of the Geodiidae family. Associated fauna of this sponge ground includes soft corals like Alcyonacea, sea anemones, tunicates, and demersal fish, such as the Roughhead grenadier, the Greenland Halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), and the Arctic Skate (Amblyraja hyperborea). The summit sponge ground may act as a nursery area for the Arctic Skate based on thousands of egg capsules found around the sponge ground. The summit sponge ground is formed on top of a dense carpet of spicules, known as a spicule mat. This sponge ground extends from 580 to 1060 meters depth on the seamount, although there are small patches of the sponge ground seen down to 1265 meters depth. Similar types of sponge grounds have been seen on other Arctic seamounts, such as Vesteris Seamount, and three seamounts (Karasik Seamount, Central Seamount, and Northern Mount on Langseth Ridge off of the Gakkel Ridge.

There is another type of sponge community found deeper than 1500 m on Schulz Bank. This one is dominated by Geodiidae sponges and forms only on the steeply-sloping bedrock walls of the slower slope and base. This type of community has been seen on steep bedrock walls elsewhere on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, such as Mohns Treasure and the canyon-like region of Ægir Ridge.

Bottom Trawling
While commercially economically important species such as the Greenland Halibut are found on the seamount, there have not been active bottom fishing on the seamount in recent years. However, a study looking at the bottom trawling effect of the Schulz Bank sponge ground found that the sponge ground fauna showed no signs of recovery 4 years after the trawling disturbance.

Deep-Sea Mining
The Norwegian Government has approved the opening process of the Norwegian continental shelf in search for deep-sea minerals in accordance to the Seabed Minerals Act. Schulz Bank is located within the proposed exploration area