Slashdot Mirror
Satellites Reveal Hidden Features At the Bottom of Earth's Seas
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.
I'm sure there will be many people posting about how "there's a conspiracy to hide Atlantis, which is why they haven't 'found' it in this study."
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
How deep is a league? 5.55600 kilometers.
Chained to a piano..
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Features Discovered: (2) Krakens; (34) Fish Doin' It; (0) Sunken Cities; (1) VW Microbus
half a league onward.
Maybe they'll find MH370.
622677120
" How deep is a league?"
6 tackles
How deep is a league? about 3,000 fathoms
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.
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!
Seems like all features of the sea floor qualify as "hidden".
Depends... are those major leagues, minor leagues or little leagues?
"20,000 leagues would be once around the planet." Agreed. A league is a measure if distance, not depth.
This data was probably collected BEFORE the crash! It just took a while to process.
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
Or metric leagues ;)
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
The leagues in the novel are indeed metric leagues, each exactly 4,000 meters long.
Ezekiel 23:20
Unless you're a Frenchman. ;)
Ezekiel 23:20
In those terms it would be 2.7 times around the Earth, if travelling in a straight line.
Only almost exactly two times, actually.
Ezekiel 23:20
In those terms it would be 2.7 times around the Earth, if travelling in a straight line.
Only almost exactly two times, actually.
Well, it all depends on which definition of league you use. That's the beauty of the customary system; you can choose the units that make you right. "Well, if you use the Tanner's league, yes. But if you measure it using the Apothecary's league..."
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
The only thing making sense here is that the miles are (quite understandably) nautical (1,852 meters), and that the leagues are French metric (4,000 meters).
Mind you, the (perhaps tired) English translator didn't get it always right:
Ezekiel 23:20
but can't spot missing Malaysian airlines !!
I spotted missing Malaysia Airlines here!
Ezekiel 23:20
Touché. I bow to your superior knowledge of the source material. Further, you have inspired me to read the book.
I used a nautical league of three nautical miles or 5556 metres for my calculation. If you use the French lieue of 4000 metres, as Verne appears to have used, then the math does indeed work out to twice the great circle circumference of the Earth. Nevertheless, I stand by my statement that 20000 leagues under the sea represents a coast hugging journey of once around the planet.
As far as the 3200 pounds to each square two-fifths of an inch, well, 1600 kg was sloppily converted to 3200 pounds using using a 2kg/lb rate, and a centimeter was converted as two fifths of an inch. The result is more of a verbal translation than a unit conversion.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!