A TABLEMOUNT is a mountain or volcano with a flat top or summit that is found under the sea. It is also known as a guyot (pronounced as 'gee-yow'), a name derived from the Swiss American geologist, Arnold Henry Guyot. Flat summits are usually more than 200 meters below sea level, and they are most abundant in the Pacific Ocean. Think of a plateau and submerge it underwater and you've got your tablemount. The Philippines has its own tablemount in the West Philippine Sea or the South China Sea. It is called the Reed or Recto Bank. It covers an area of more than 8,000 square kilometers and is located Southwest of the Philippines near Palawan. In the 1990s, Alcorn Petroleum and Minerals Corp. did extensive survey work in the area.

In 2003, boundaries were drawn in the areas to be explored and exploited for gas and oil. The boundary was carefully delineated to avoid Malaysian waters; it encloses an area of 143,000 square kilometers north and west of Palawan which includes but does not extend beyond the Reed or Recto Bank.