To date, just 23.4 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped using modern-day sonar. More recently, satellite arrays have also been used to draw a clearer, but still fuzzy picture. Those early efforts used technology that was in its relative infancy. The work was expanded on by figures such as pioneering geologist Marie Tharp, whose map of the Atlantic Ocean was critical to helping scientists accept the theory of plate tectonics (which suggests the Earth’s outer crust is made of giant plates that have been moving around for billions of years). By the 1930s, sonar was already being used to make rough outlines of the ocean floor. In the 18th century, ship crews were noting depth by throwing rope anchored by lead overboard and seeing how far they sank. Mariners looking to keep their ships from running aground in shallow water have noted obstructions since man took to sea. Mapping the ocean floor is not a new idea. “So that’s a commitment that we’re trying to do over the next couple of years, is testing some of these emerging technologies.” “The general path things are evolving in is we’re doing a lot more with robots and using autonomous vehicles,” Daniel Wagner, the lead scientist for the Ocean Exploration Trust (the nonprofit that runs the ship), told The Daily Beast. The crew brought along a new toy: an unmanned surface vehicle called DriX, to be sent into shallower waters with its own sonar array. But that’s changed for a three-week trip that began June 15 to explore the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a 583,000-square-mile stretch of ocean, atolls and islands in the Pacific near Hawaii. On previous voyages, the Nautilus had been the sole source of sonar signals. Since different materials like rock, sand or coral absorb different amounts of sound, backscatter can help researchers determine what types of habitats might be located in different locations. Sonar also picks up what’s called backscatter, which is the intensity of the returning sound. By sending sound deep into the water and calculating how long it takes to return, a picture can be drawn of the depth and ocean floor topography. Usually, the Nautilus accomplishes its mapping using a technique familiar to anyone who’s ever watched The Hunt For Red October: sonar. A better understanding of how the planet’s climate is changing is at stake-and with that, the potential to save many more lives from suffering and preventable hardships. The data is coming from a number of sources, including world governments and their militaries, private corporations, and of course the Nautilus and other research vessels.įor the scientists helming this project, Seabed 2030 is not merely an adventurous journey to know what kind of hidden gems are laying at the bottom of the ocean (whether it’s geological marvels, ecological peculiarities, or man-made relics). A project known as the the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which is composed of two nonprofits, is working to slowly fill the gaps and completely map the entire ocean floor by the end of the decade. As of 2022, less than a quarter of Earth’s ocean floor has been properly mapped. On its YouTube channel, the crew of the Nautilus posts some of its greatest hits: the whale fall a brine pool (a toxic-to-humans but vital to some wildlife naturally occurring pocket of highly salinated water) a garden of over a thousand octopuses solemnly guarding their fertilized eggs and the rusted hulk of World War II German submarine U 166, sunk in the Gulf of Mexico.Īs gorgeous and fascinating as these scenes are, the Nautilus’ most important work is less visually exciting but could be far more consequential. 19, 2019, is just a glimpse of some of the incredible sights captured by the E/V Nautilus, a research vessel charged with exploring and documenting one of the most fascinating and least explored parts of the planet: the bottom of the ocean. Over a dozen octopuses have nestled into the exposed ribcage of the great mammal, and many kinds of fish are lethargically poking around, nibbling at the remaining meat. Whales may live closer to the surface, but when they die, their bodies sink and become a smorgasbord for the creatures that live far below. This deep in the ocean, nutrients can be hard to come by. As the vehicle slowly moves through the depths of the Davidson Seamount off the coast of central California, a team of researchers observing everything remotely murmur in excitement as a giant corpse slowly comes into focus on the camera. The water is murky as lights from an unmanned submersible shine on the seafloor, more than 10,000 feet below the surface.
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