Page 60: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2016)

Sea? oor Mapping

Sea? oor Rise Named Engineer’s Ridge he newly discovered sea? oor south of Guam, the R/V Falkor techni- success of an expedition.” According rise Engineer’s Ridge has been cians mapped and measured Engineer’s to the of? cial naming proposal, Falkor

Tof? cially documented through Ridge at 4.5 x 3 km and a maximum and its crew ran 393 kilometers of sur- the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, depth of 4,100 meters. There are strict vey lines to de? ne the underwater bluff.

Schmidt Ocean Institute said. Less than conventions and protocols for nam- It was during an expedition to explore three months after announcing Falkor ing geographic features, and only in the biology and geology of the Mariana

Seamount, an underwater mountain dis- very rare events will the name of living Trench, that the team discovered Engi- covered and named by the crew aboard persons be used. In this case, Schmidt neer’s Ridge and obtained footage of the

Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research Ocean Institute’s Lead Marine Techni- deepest ? sh known to science. “With- vessel Falkor, the team has found and cian Leighton Rolley argued that col- out the contribution of the engineering named another underwater feature. lectively, research ships’ engineers have team we would have been unable to

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names “made an outstanding and fundamental continue to explore the deepest parts unanimously approved Engineer’s contribution to ocean sciences.” “Engi- of the world’s oceans, and ultimately

Ridge on January 19, 2016. Named after neers face daily challenges to keep the discover the deepest ? sh known to sci- the “unsung heroes of science at sea,” vessel running,” said Leighton. “In ad- ence,” said Leighton. There were several the underwater feature was discovered dition to supporting vessel maintenance, issues where the engineer’s help was in- during a science expedition in the Mari- engineers often assist the science party valuable, “the naming of this feature is anas Trench Marine National Monu- with fabrication of equipment and ad- a lasting testimony to all the engineers ment in November 2014. Located just dress problems that can determine the who keep ships and science going.”

RV Falkor (right) and its crew ran 393 km of survey lines to de? ne the underwa- ter bluff now dubbed “Engineer’s Ridge” (above). A bonus: foot- age of the ghost ? sh (left), the deepest ? sh known to science.

(Images: Schmidt Ocean Institute)

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