All articles tagged with #bathymetry
An AI-assisted analysis of seafloor bathymetry led by Andrea Verolino identifies 73 previously unknown submarine calderas, potentially tripling the world's known count and revealing counts at mid-ocean ridges, volcanic arcs, and interior seafloor. The study provides a transparent framework for mapping submarine volcanism and assessing hazards, though it does not confirm whether any of these calderas are currently active.
Seabed 2030 has lifted global ocean-floor mapping from 6% to about 28.7% since 2017, but roughly 71% of the seabed remains unmapped due to the physics, cost, and logistics of deep-sea surveying. Unlike Mars, which is mapped from orbit, the ocean floor requires costly multibeam sonar on ships and is hampered by under-ice conditions, depth, and access. Advances such as autonomous vessels and machine learning could accelerate progress, but meeting a 100% target by 2030 is unlikely; nonetheless, the improved bathymetry underpins better climate models, submarine-cable routing, tsunami prediction, and environmental baselining for deep-sea mining, while remaining uneven and most challenging in deep, remote regions.
A high‑resolution survey around Antarctica identified 332 submarine canyons, some deeper than 4,000 meters, with distinct eastern and western morphologies that challenge prior climate assumptions. These canyons regulate exchanges between the continental shelf and the deep Southern Ocean, channeling warm water toward ice shelves to accelerate melting while exporting freshwater that influences global ocean circulation. The dataset enables more realistic seafloor topography in climate models, though direct flow measurements are still limited and further mooring/observational campaigns are planned.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a new method to map ocean depths in shallow coastal waters using Landsat satellite data. This approach uses a physics-based algorithm to derive bathymetry from visible-light observations, overcoming traditional challenges of sonar and lidar mapping. The method, which can map depths greater than 20 meters in clear water, is particularly useful for tracking coastal changes and studying coral reef health. This satellite-based technique offers a more efficient and practical solution for seafloor mapping, contributing to initiatives like the National Ocean Mapping and Seabed 2030 projects.
A new study reveals that the shape and depth of the ocean floor significantly influence carbon sequestration, accounting for up to 50% of changes in carbon storage depth over the past 80 million years. This finding highlights the critical role of seafloor topography in the long-term carbon cycle, which has implications for climate change mitigation and the search for habitable planets.