NASA scientists have found a new high -resolution map of the ocean floor. It shows the presence of approximately 100,000 mountains underwater that were not known before, which helps researchers track the heat flow in the ocean, which is a major factor in predicting weather patterns in the long run.
According to a study published in the “Science” magazine, the new satellite map was able to monitor the sea mountains, which are less than 500 meters high, and by focusing on the small gravitational bumps on the surface of the water, I got to know the location of these summits, raising the number of known marine mountains from 44 thousand to approximately 100 thousand.
The map technology depends on gravity, not on the cameras, and because the marine mountains and hills in the deep depths are the largest mass of the sea floor surrounding it, it attracts the ocean over it a little more strongly.
This clouds make slight altitudes in the surface of the water, sometimes up to a few centimeters, and the Swot industrial satellite managed to monitor these slight changes and translate them into detailed maps showing what is under it.
The marine mountains are known to be an underwater highland that rises at the ocean floor, formed as a result of volcanic activity, and formed vital foci of wildlife, and it was difficult in the past to monitor these landmarks if its height was less than a thousand meters.
The detailed results of this new disclosure added to the advanced observations made by satellite, as it was the “Sotot” mission, which was launched in December 2022, is essential to collecting important data that enabled these mapping efforts.
Satellite, such as “Sout”, covers about 90% of the Earth every 21 days. Although it is not comparable to the accuracy of the sonar, it compensates for it with speed, size and frequency of monitoring.
The ships equipped with sonar can wipe the ocean floor directly, but only 25% of the ocean floor was drawn, and this cognitive gap prompted scientists to resort to satellite data to obtain a more comprehensive image.
Protecting diversity
In a statement issued by NASA, Nadia Vinjadova Chevir said: “The maps of the sea floor maps is essential in existing and emerging economic opportunities, including extracting rare minerals at the sea floor, improving shipping methods, discovering risks, and war operations at the sea floor.”
Understanding the dynamics of the ocean bottom structures and its currents that transmit heat and nutrients across the world lead to better visions on how ocean patterns affect climate, marine ecosystems, and biological diversity, and this information can be converted into a topographic map of the sea surface, which reflects the features of the bottom.
Even in the darkest ocean, these formations are considered a magnet for life. Her maps helps scientists to determine the locations of fragile ecosystems that may need to protect against mining in the depths of the seas and hunting with traction.
Mountains and underwater hills are slopes in which water currents slowed enough to drop the nutrients. These dietary areas become locations that bring together plankton, fish and coral reefs in the depths of the seas, thus forming a foci of biological diversity.
This disclosure helps researchers drawing the terrain maps in places where the sonar data from ships is still scarce. It also complements the efforts of the “Sea Flood 2030” project to completely survey the World Sea bottom by the end of this contract.
The same data plays a role in climate modeling. It helps researchers to measure the depths accurately, track the heat flow in the ocean, which is a major factor in predicting weather patterns in the long run and identifying areas exposed to sea level changes.
