Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Satellites Reveal Hidden Features At the Bottom of Earth's Seas

Posted by samzenpus on from the under-the-sea dept.

sciencehabit writes Oceanographers have a saying: Scientists know more about the surface of Mars than they do about the landscape at the bottom of our oceans. But that may soon change. Using data from satellites that measure variations in Earth's gravitational field, researchers have found a new and more accurate way to map the sea floor. The improved resolution has already allowed them to identify previously hidden features—including thousands of extinct volcanoes more than 1000 meters tall—as well as piece together some lingering uncertainties in Earth's ancient history.

4 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So did they find Atlantis? by avgjoe62 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Someday, SOMEDAY we will discover a race of super human vegan Atlantean descendants ruled by Amelia Earhart, living inside a hollow Earth, flying UFOs powered by perpetual power from magnets, guarded by a race of super intelligent Yetis all of whom are Mensa members. THEN what are you going to do with your skepticism, huh?

    Just you wait and see. Edgar Cayce will be proven correct and all you sheeple will realize it too late!!!

    /sarcasm

    --

    How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?

  2. Google Earth KMZ Files by DoctorBit · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the paper, here are the links to Google Earth KMZ files to view the whole earth results:

    Gravity anomaly map

    VGG map

    The new data is very cool, and a clear improvement from Google Earth's standard data. They've got all the world's water, even lakes. They only missed a 2000 km radius circle centered on the north pole. To see the difference, after opening the KMZ files in Google Earth, select and unselect the check boxes in the Temporary Places folder.

  3. Re:Dive! Dive! Dive! by camperdave · · Score: 5, Informative

    Considering that 20,000 leagues down would take you all the way through the Earth, and then out the other side about another seven or eight planetary diameters out into space, or more than twice the altitude of geostationary satellites, I think it's safe to say that the 20,000 leagues refers to a horizontal distance travelled rather than a depth. In those terms it would be 2.7 times around the Earth, if travelling in a straight line. If you're wandering along the coast, like Magellan and Drake did, then 20,000 leagues would be once around the planet.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  4. Explanation of how it works by samwichse · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's an excellent bit from the USGS on just how the model works with lots of intermediate steps to show how they get the final model:

    http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2000/o...

    Sam