Humanity is a little more knowledgeable about planet Earth than it was before thanks to an organization of scientists who have been mapping the ocean floor. The initiative aims to have a full map done by 2030. Nearly one-fifth of this task has now been completed, so the ambitious goal may not be as impossible as it sounds!
The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, as it is called, was launched in 2017. At that time, only 6% of the global ocean bottom had been surveyed to “modern standards.” They managed to get that figure up to 15% by 2019. That’s about 14.5 million sq km of new bathymetric (depth) data added to the GEBCO grid in two years – an area about twice the size of Australia. Then in just the past year, they upped the number to 19%.
And as impressive as that is, there’s still a massive amount of the planet that needs to be mapped.
Jamie McMichael-Phillips, the project director, told BBC News:
Today we stand at the 19% level. That means we’ve got another 81% of the oceans still to survey, still to map. That’s an area about twice the size of Mars that we have to capture in the next decade.
The map above illustrates the challenge faced by GEBCO in the coming years. The black is where they are missing modern measurements (echo-sounding) at a reasonable resolution. The blues correspond to water depth with purple being deeper and light blue shallower areas.
The black zone isn’t completely unknown territory because satellites (spacecraft carrying altimeter instruments that can infer seafloor topography.) have captured images that scientists turned into maps. However, the best resolution of the satellite images is over a kilometer. The Seabed 2030 wants a map with a resolution of at least 100 meters.
But why do we need seafloor maps? There are several reasons, including:
- They are essential for navigation and for laying underwater pipelines and cables.
- They aid in conservation efforts.
- They’re essential for fisheries management. Knowing where the underwater mountains are is crucial as that is where wildlife tends to congregate.
- It helps us understand climate change better. The topography of the seafloor influences how the ocean currents behave, as well as the vertical mixing of water. Knowing it would improve scientific models that forecast future climate change. The oceans are a key player in moving heat around the planet. Furthermore, the maps will help to know precisely how sea-levels will rise in specific parts of the world.
A lot of the data collected by the team had already existed, but it was “sitting on a shelf,” and they imported it all into the GEBCO grid. To complete the maps, they will need outside input in the form of great crowdsourcing efforts. Ships that transit the globe can all operate their echo-sounding equipment, collect the data, and send it to the foundation to include in the maps. Even small vessels such as yachts and fishing boats can do this. All they have to do is attach data-loggers to their sonar and navigation equipment.
A perfect example of this is the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which operates in the more remote parts of the globe. It mixes up its routes taken by ships to get more data. BAS scientist Dr. Rob Larter explained:
Very early on we adopted the ethos that data should be collected on passage – on the way to where we were going, not just at the site of interest. A beautiful example of this is the recent bathymetric map of the Drake Passage area (between South America and Antarctica). A lot of that was acquired by different research projects as they fanned out and moved back and forth to the places they were going.
However, all the ships traveling the seas won’t be enough. To close some of the gaps – those out-of-the-way locations where ships don’t go – they will need to use new technology dedicated just to the purpose of mapping. There is a prominent UK-US company, called Ocean Infinity, that conducts seafloor surveys. The startup is using a subsidiary called Armada to building a fleet of low-cost, uncrewed robotic surface vessels.
Dan Hook, the company’s MD, told BBC News:
When you look at the mapping of the seabed in areas closer to shore, you see the business case very quickly. Whether it’s for wind farms or cable-laying – there are lots of people that want to know what’s down there. But when it’s those very remote areas of the planet, the case then is really only a scientific one.
Seabed 2030’s McMichael-Phillips is confident he’ll have the maps done within the decade as long as everyone pulls together. He said:
I am confident, but to do it we will need partnerships. We need governments, we need industry, we need academics, we need philanthropists, and we need citizen scientists. We need all these individuals to come together if we’re to deliver an ocean map that is absolutely fundamental and essential to humankind.
The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO is the only intergovernmental organization with a directive to map the entire ocean floor.
