Seascapes

Images such as this map of the seafloor off the coast of west Florida are among the most detailed pictures ever made of the bottom of the ocean. The pictures provide scientists with new insights into the events and processes that result in surprisingly diverse terrain at the bottom of the ocean. Here, groundwater seeping from low-lying Florida weakens the deep seafloor, spurring periodic collapse. This process, over time, has created a sheer, mile-high underwater cliff. This image -- and others depicting underwater seascapes off the Eastern and Western United States and in the Gulf of Mexico -- were produced by scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.