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Much of what lies on the seafloor remains a mystery. NASA is fixing that.


Published on 2025-03-22 06:02:20 - Mashable
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  • Experts have been working on mapping the ocean floor with traditional methods, sending ships across the water with sonar technology
  • sound waves that bounce off the bottom
  • to measure depth. But the process has moved at a snail's pace: Ships can only cover small areas at a time, leaving much of the ocean uncharted.

The article from Mashable discusses NASA's ambitious project to map the entire ocean floor by 2030, highlighting the significance of this endeavor for understanding climate change, marine ecosystems, and geological processes. NASA's satellite technology, particularly the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, plays a crucial role by measuring the height of the ocean's surface, which can indicate the shape of the seafloor below. This mapping effort not only aids in navigation and resource exploration but also helps in predicting natural disasters like tsunamis and understanding the ocean's role in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. The project involves collaboration with various international partners and utilizes advanced algorithms to interpret satellite data, aiming to fill in the vast gaps in our current knowledge of the ocean depths.

Read the Full Mashable Article at:
[ https://mashable.com/article/nasa-satellite-seafloor-ocean-map ]