Ocean Floor Mapping Anomalies

Huge trenches walls flatlands and seamounts fill the seascape and have a direct impact on the water bodies above them.

Ocean floor mapping anomalies. Whether it is a ufo a nazi anti submarine defense tool or simply a glacial rock that has been dragged across the sea floor the discovery of the disc shaped baltic sea anomaly and its subsequent investigation in 2012 kept all the interested parties on the edge of their seats. Ocean floor mapping about two thirds of the earth s surface lies beneath the oceans. The map above shows a global view of gravity anomalies as assembled by sandwell smith and colleagues. However as early as the 16th century a few intrepid navigators by taking soundings.

The seafloor off the oregon coast now holds a little less mystery thanks to a team of geologists oceanographers and commercial fishermen. This is expensive and time consuming so sonar maps are mostly only made of places where ships spend the most time. They are all around the globe. When continents break apart the story of their separation is recorded in the ocean floor that forms between them the map above shows seafloor gravity anomalies in the western indian ocean as assembled by david sandwell of the scripps institution of oceanography walter smith of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and.

Strange anomalies found in ocean floor. The ocean s floor is as complex as it is deep. So if any oil and gas company wants to explore the gulf of mexico for hydrocarbons it needs to hand over the findings from its seismic surveys to the boem. Before the 19th century the depths of the open ocean were largely a matter of speculation and most people thought that the ocean floor was relatively flat and featureless.

Typically finely wrought ocean maps have been the result of extensive sonar. Shades of orange and red represent areas where seafloor gravity is stronger in milligals than the global average a phenomenon that mostly coincides with the location of underwater ridges seamounts and the edges of earth s tectonic plates. By conducting a multibeam sonar survey similar to a medical ultrasound scientists are able to image the sea bottom. The map has been created by the bureau of ocean energy management boem a federal agency that manages the united state s natural gas oil and other offshore mineral resources.

The crust overlies the solidified and uppermost layer of the mantle the crust and the solid mantle layer together constitute oceanic lithosphere.