The entire ocean floor of the Earth, in a spectacular 3D interactive map that reveals 50,000 unknown underwater mountains

Although we are already looking other planets in the universe (especially interesting are the potentially habitable ones), the reality is that the old Earth still has a few hidden secrets left. Without going any further, the seabed continues to delight us with new species at this point in the film.

NASA knows this and that is why in December 2022 it launched a satellite into space with a mission: to achieve topography of surface waters and oceans. Hence its name, SWOT. Already the first year managed to map the ocean floor in more detail than in the last 30 years and is now available in full.

It is, in short, the most detailed marine gravity map in history. What he has “seen” is not just the ground, but subtle variations in the height of the sea surface. These variations reveal the existence of thousands of underwater mountains, trenches and faults, invisible to conventional satellites.

To prepare this map, NASA has used state-of-the-art phase coherence interferometry, which has made it possible to measure the two-dimensional height of sea level with high precision. Historically, sonar has been used to measure the seabed, but we have only managed to map less than 30% (with the Seabed 2030 project) with this technique. On the other hand, standard satellites offered a resolution well below the achieved spatial resolution, close to 8 kilometers.

This exhaustive map of the ocean floor goes beyond satisfying geographical curiosity, the impact of this cartography It is evident in:

• Biodiversity. Underwater mountains are oases of life and knowing where they are is essential.
• Safety in navigation, allowing the identification of underwater peaks that may constitute a risk for vessels.
• Climate change. These types of structures are directly related to ocean currents, responsible for transporting heat. If we do not know the relief, we cannot predict how the sea will warm.

The map of the seabed with a level of detail never seen before

With this vertical gravitational gradient map, NASA has developed a 3D model through which you can move and zoom through all the depths of the seas and oceans of the Earth. Individual abyssal hills measuring 200 – 300 kilometers in length can be seen along with other small seamounts and tectonic structures, previously hidden.

In fact, abyssal hills are the most common landform underwater (in the southern Indian Ocean they can be seen, for example). NASA explains that they are formed by normal faults along the axes of the oceanic ridges. From them, plate reconstruction studies are being carried out.

Also in the visualization you can see seamounts located west of Central America, which are actually underwater volcanoes formed by magmatic intrusions through the oceanic crust. Their importance is crucial as they modify ocean circulation, influence the distribution of nutrients and constitute key points of biodiversity. The high-resolution mapping reveals some 50,000 previously unknown seamounts approximately one kilometer high.

Tap to go to NASA’s 3D model of the seafloor. Via: NASA/JPL

The topography of surface waters and oceans from SWOT also shows great clarity in the continental margins, highlighting the high latitude areas, with tectonic structures buried under sediments and ice. Thus, it allows observing submarine canyons that transport sediment from the mainland to the deep sea along the South American continental shelf, as well as ancient mid-ocean ridges hidden under the ice in the Weddell Sea.

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Cover | POT