The Azores and protecting the treasures of the deep

Deep beneath the oceans,massive mountains,ridges and plateaus rise from the seafloor,stretching up but never quite reaching the surface. The Earth's longest mountain range is not on land but under the sea - the Mid Oceanic ridge system,which winds around the globe through every ocean.It is four times longer than the Andes,Rockies and Himalayas combined! The biggest of these underwater mountains are called 'seamounts',rising more than 1,000 metres from the sea floor.