Page 28: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2016)

Sea? oor Mapping

Evolution of Ocean Exploration

Mapping the Sea? oor with Geodesy

By Kira Coley n an age where the surface of Mercury and Mars can alone, costing billions of dollars. Gravity models are power- be mapped in great detail, it’s dif? cult to imagine how ful tools for charting large areas of the ocean where tectonic around 85-95% of our ocean ? oor remain enigmatic. structures and deep ocean basins remain unmapped by ships

While advanced sonar technology has allowed ships or hidden under thick sediment. to create highly detailed topographic maps, it would Now, the new marine gravity model announced by a team

Itake 125-200 ship-years to survey the deep oceans of international scientists’ shows unprecedented resolution

Global map of the variations in the pull of gravity derived from satellite radar altimetry. http://topex.ucsd.edu/grav_outreach

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