New Seafloor Map Reveals How Strange the Gulf of Mexico Is

[Judi Lynn]

Data gathered by oil exploration companies was combined to create the highest resolution map ever made of the area.




A new high-resolution map of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico was released to the public.
MAP BY BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT
By Betsy Mason
PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2017

The floor of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most geologically interesting stretches of the Earth’s surface. The gulf’s peculiar history gave rise to a landscape riddled with domes, pockmarks, canyons, faults, and channels — all revealed in more detail than ever before by a new 1.4 billion-pixel map.


This striking view of the ocean floor off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas was created by a government agency you’ve likely never heard of called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The bureau’s job is to manage exploration and development of the country’s offshore mineral and energy resources. Consequently it has access to all the survey data that private companies collect.


The exploration companies use 3-D seismic imaging to map areas of the Gulf they are interested in. This involves towing high-powered underwater air guns behind a ship. When the guns fire, they create sound waves that travel down and are reflected back up by the sea floor. Lines of underwater microphones pulled along the surface behind the ship record how long it takes the reflected waves to reach them, data that can then be translated into topography.


As you can clearly see in the image below, this data is much higher resolution than the best available map, which was made in the 1990s.

More:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/new-seafloor-map-gulf-of-mexico/

[CurtEastPoint]

1. I'm sure this valuable agency will be destroyed by DT.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Well, if all they're looking for is places to drill for oil...

maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[TexasTowelie]

3. And it is all covered in oil. nt