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A bathymetric map measures the depth of water in an underwater area and can be used for oceans, seas, and lakes. It uses color and contour lines to represent depth and can be created using sonar. Bathymetric maps are useful for marine safety, underwater missions, and paleobathymetry. The General Bathymetric Map of the Oceans (GEBCO) is an international resource for bathymetric cartographic data.
A bathymetric map is a map that measures the depth of water in an underwater area. Although many people think of bathymetric maps as measuring ocean depths, this type of mapping can also be applied to seas and lakes. A bathymetric chart is very similar to a topographic map, except that the features it contains are underwater. It can use various representations, including color and contour lines, to represent the ocean or sea depth in a particular area. Some bathymetric maps use what is called a digital terrain model (DTM) to show how underwater depth levels differ across a region.
When cartographers first began making bathymetric maps, depth was often found by lowering some type of physical probe into a body of water. This method may take a long time and not be accurate. In modern times, this method has been replaced by sonar to give cartographers a much better picture of what lies on the ocean floor.
A bathymetric map can perform many different functions. Many of these types of maps give mariners a better understanding of underwater features that could threaten the safety of a particular boat or vessel’s marine path. A bathymetric map can also be useful in underwater missions, where search parties are trying to identify something lying on an ocean or seabed, from a lost ship to cargo thrown overboard. Many interesting submarine diving missions that have unearthed long-sunken treasures or famous lost ships have used bathymetric mapping to more easily reach an underwater location. Bathymetric mapping is also used for “paleobathymetry”, the study of ancient changes in underwater topography.
While many different nations have their own institutes for compiling bathymetric cartographic data, there is an international resource called the General Bathymetric Map of the Oceans (GEBCO). This collection of bathymetric maps can provide a wealth of information about the ocean floor anywhere in the world. The project is led by an Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) which is part of the United Nations International Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The GEBCO collection helps scientists around the world provide cutting-edge research into something many people still know relatively little about: what lies beneath the world’s largest bodies of water. Progressive bathymetric mapping helps uncover the secrets of one of the last frontiers of an increasingly familiar land.
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