Bathymetry studies underwater terrain in saltwater and freshwater environments. Sonar is now commonly used for analysis, and maps are produced for various purposes, including safety for ships and predicting storm events. Bathymetry also has historical and legal uses, such as locating shipwrecks and determining national boundaries.
Bathymetry is the scientific study of the depths and terrain of underwater surfaces, both in saltwater environments such as oceans and in freshwater environments such as lakes and rivers. The study of bathymetry was formerly done using mechanical sounding methods, but, as of 2011, sonar is a more common means used to analyze the underwater environment. Such research is used for a variety of purposes, including ensuring the safety of ships when navigating on the surface, as shallow channels along coastal regions or river banks may not be as deep as the amount of ships that exist beneath the waterline. Other purposes for bathymetric data collection include analyzing freshwater and marine habitat ecology, underwater exploration for oil and minerals, and predicting the effects of water-based storm events such as tsunamis.
Sea bathymetry follows similar principles to land mapping in that it uses Mercator projections, which are lines representing latitude and longitude drawn on a flat surface map that are used to approximate the spherical shape of ocean surfaces. These projections, however, are not accurate in the polar regions due to increasing levels of distortion between the map and actual underwater features. Bathymetry also relies heavily on the display of depth contours on maps, which are lines often drawn in radiating circular patterns that connect all land regions that exist at approximately equal depths.
Extensive production of bathymetric maps is done by national research organizations, such as the US-based National Ocean Service (NOS) Office of Coast Survey, and these maps are supplied to commercial enterprises such as those engaged in height. Maps are usually color-coded to indicate both depth and geological features of the underwater terrain. There are maps for large bodies of fresh water, including the Great Lakes, and some regions such as the US state of Florida have undertaken detailed bathymetric mapping of much smaller and more numerous bodies of fresh water. Many of Earth’s large saltwater regions are mapped through international cooperation, including the Arctic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. While a large amount of bathymetric survey data has been collected from surface vessel surveys with over 76,000,000 surveys comprising more than 6,600 surveys performed through the NOS, the bathymetry data collected since 2011 is also generated from satellite imagery.
Ocean bathymetry also serves unique historical and legal purposes. It is used to assist archaeologists in researching the location of ancient shipwrecks and can be presented as evidence in court when disputes arise over national boundaries for fishing and mining rights. In 1985, an expedition led by both American and French researchers used bathymetric maps to locate the underwater wreck of the famed cruise ship RMS Titanic, which was found at an approximate depth of 2.5 miles (4,023 meters), 370 miles (595 kilometers listen)) southeast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
