Question

How do scientists map the seafloor?

Answer 1

Hint: Though people have wandered on the ocean for millennia, people have analyzed only a small portion of the ocean floor. Today’s technology has enabled us to comprehend more about the seafloor, comprising both its physical properties and its impacts on living organisms.

Complete answer: Echo sounding is the main technique which is used by scientists to map the seafloor today. The German scientists were the first to use this technique in the early 20th century, which uses sound waves bounced off the bottom of the ocean. The time taken for the sound to travel through the ocean and back is then used to measure the depth of the water.
Sonar can be used to estimate the depth of the ocean. It is an electronic depth-sounding instrument which computes the time it takes sound waves to travel from the surface to the ocean floor and back again. Once scientists understand the travel time of the wave, they can estimate the length of the ocean floor.
High-resolution seafloor mapping is a significant device used for governing underwater resource analysis, extraction, and device, enabling us to determine what and where is safe.

Note: - Seafloor maps also guarantee that ships are equipped to safely plot around natural and human-made structures on the ocean floor.
- Nearly one-fifth of the world's total ocean floor has now been mapped, with the recent data correlating to a region which is twice the size of Australia.