Using gravitational field of operations datum collected from European Space Agency ( ESA ) and NASA satellites , researchers from theScripps Institution of Oceanographyhave take off produce the most accurate maps to particular date of one of the least explored areas on Earth : the bottom of the ocean . And they ’ve already started churn out some remarkable findings , including thousands of previously unknown mountains and even young tip about continent formation .
As described in the journalScience , the findings were made with the assistance of radar altimeters installed on ESA ’s CryoSat-2 and NASA ’s Jason-1 orbiter . These instruments continuouslybounce signalsoff the airfoil of the sea which reveal its shape . Sincewater surveil soberness , feature at the aerofoil reflect what lie at the bottom . Undersea mountains , or seamount , for instance , maintain gravitative pullsand thus warp pee outward above the feature . Deep trench , on the other hand , would cause the water to do the opposite . By combining these measurements with existing data , the researcher were able to generate a model that istwice as accurateas late models .
While the researchers have barely touched the control surface yet , their new map has already revealed a wealthiness of new information . Among the finding so far are chiliad of previouslyunchartered seamount , up to a kilometer and a one-half in height , and anextinct spreading ridgewhere architectonic plates were pulling apart some 180 million year ago to work a basin that became theGulf of Mexico . In the South Atlantic Ocean , they also discovered previouscontinental connectionsfrom before South America and Africa rifted apart some85 million years ago .
Although mapping of the seafloor existed before this project , they for the most part relied on data gleaned fromship - based sonars . Given that ships would only purge certain regions , there existed large gaps in the data . Furthermore , much of the topography of the ocean flooring is bury by thick sediment which legal document struggle to penetrate . This left some 80 - 90 % of the seafloor unchartered , meaning that scientist in reality know more about thesurface of Marsthan the bottom of the ocean . Hopefully , as the squad continues to gather more information , we might start to see that modification .
[ ViaUCSD , BBC News , ScienceandSciencemag ]
