Pacific Sea-Floor Mapping

The Pacific Seafloor Mapping Project has conducted a number of surveys in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hawaii, Gulf of Mexico, and Lake Tahoe, which is on the border of California and Nevada. The two types of data collected include; Bathymetry - Sea-floor depth Backscatter - The amount of sound returned off the ocean floor. This type of data can provide insight into the geologic makeup of the sea floor. These data are of critical importance to groups as diverse as marine habitat biologists, state and local authorities setting regulations on sea-floor uses, school children and their teachers. The new high-resolution base maps produced by this project will be used for: identifying areas of erosion and deposition on the continental shelf locating areas of geohazards (such as slumps and faults) locating pathways for movement of sediment and pollutants Ongoing research is attempting to derive better relationships between the backscatter collected from a multibeam mapping system and the sea-floor geology. The ultimate goal of this research is to convert the backscatter maps into geologic maps. For more in-depth information about Multibeam mapping technology see USGS Open File Report 98-509, The Bathymetry of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada or mapping history and technology.

USGS Cooperators:

University of New Brunswick, Canada

USGS Water Resources Division, Menlo Park

US Army Corps of Engineers

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

University of Hawaii, Manoa

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

USGS East Coast Sea-Floor Mapping

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

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