The Ocean Floor Should Be Mapped Like Space

It cannot be contested that research technology has come a long way. We are now able to garner vast amounts of information by running pieces of it through a program, or by manipulating a robot with human-esque hands to explore the depths of the ocean. In the field of space exploration, new technology has been a game changer. Researchers have been able to generate detailed maps of the moon and mars with modern technology. Unfortunately, only 5% of the ocean floor has been mapped with said technology. In order to truly be able to understand the ocean, we must survey it like we would survey, say, the moon.

I believe that, with international commitment and cooperation, we could map the entire ocean floor for around the cost of one mission to mars. The reasons to do this are insurmountable. For example, measurements of the ocean floor would allow us to properly discover its usability. Offshore wind farms would be much more plausible if we knew how each section of the world’s oceans are shaped, and how deep they are. Also, it is a matter of safety. Further understanding the ocean will lead to better predictability of potentially catastrophic weather events, such as storm surges.

Our lack of knowledge about the ocean floor has been an issue in the past. For example, remember the crash of airliner MH370? The Malaysian plane crashed in a part of the ocean that has not been mapped with modern technology. Therefore, the ocean floor in that area had to be mapped out during the search for the airliner, which was months of work that would have been unnecessary had we already known about the size and depths of the ocean.

Of course, obtaining this necessary information about the ocean will be time-consuming and costly. This is the main reason behind our lack of knowledge about much of the ocean floor. However, if simply having more knowledge about the ocean is our goal, there are ways to cut down on costs and researchers necessary to complete the task. Personally, I have suggested releasing a large, unscrewed barge carrying equipment that could explore the ocean for much less than the cost of a conventional mission. It would have a sonar to sweep the ocean floor, and be able to be controlled remotely, meaning that it would never have to enter port. This is the most viable option to explore the ocean floor while addressing the concerns of cost and manpower.

All in all, we need more knowledge of the ocean floor. It is not ideal to be living on a planet that is 70% water without knowing about the water. That basically means we don’t have concrete details about 70% of our planet. I believe if the international community can band together and commit itself to mapping the ocean floor, we can further utilize oceans to help the planet and make them safer overall.

If the Ocean were Transparent

There is no doubt that we need to map out more of the ocean floor. If we approached our desire for knowledge of the ocean like we do our desire for knowledge of space, we could most likely map out the entire ocean floor for about the same cost as an expedition to Mars. Even when looking down into the ocean, or up from the ocean floor, many things are obscured. This, of course, calls into question what we would be able to see if the entire ocean were flooded with light and transparent. The mental imagery is fascinating.

For example, we would be able to spot layers of what look like green mist that are actually phytoplankton. Phytoplankton work to take carbon out of the atmosphere, turning it into organic matter. Additionally, we would be able to spot hundreds of thousands of ships floating on the water’s surface, carrying billions of tons of cargo.

Going much deeper, a transparent ocean would be able to show us all of the life on the ocean floor. There is a large amount of ocean life with which we are not yet familiar. There exists a population of fish that reside far below the surface of the water during the day and find their way to the surface at night, for example. If the water were transparent, we would be able to see one of the largest movements of fish ever.

Most importantly, if the ocean were transparent, researchers would be able to map out all of the imperfections of the ocean floor. Many people think the ocean floor to be flat far beneath the surface, but this is a misguided notion. Most of the pieces of the ocean floor we know vary in depth. There exist seamounts on which water level is slightly higher, and unpredictable dips and crags. Studies of the shifting of tectonic plates are able to explain such phenomena, but we would need to see the ocean floor to explore their effects.

There is no doubt that a transparent ocean would make ocean exploration much easier. Unfortunately, there is no way to make the ocean fully transparent. There is, however, technology we can use to simulate transparency of the ocean for researchers and research vessels. Drones and big data are the two avenues that are projected to be the most reliable. Unscrewed surface vessels would be able to map the ocean floor with a sonar while never having to go into port, as they can be controlled remotely. New methods of data processing can be incorporated into systems that, in effect, could make the ocean ‘transparent.’

As you can see, there are many methods the scientific community could use to make the ocean more transparent. It will be interesting to see how technology evolves to tell us more about the ocean floor in the future!

Exploring the Andrea Doria

On July 26, 1956, the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria sank to the seafloor in one of the most well-known shipwrecks in history. Now, explorers are attempting to get a good look at the wreckage on the seafloor.

Everett-based exploration company OceanGate is planning the first manned submersible expedition to the wreck in 20 years. Next month, this company will utilize its five-man submersible Cyclops I to get high definition video and 3-D sonar images of the shipwreck. This revolutionary technology has never been used to study this well-known maritime disaster.

On the day of the incident, the Italian luxury liner was heading to New York when the collision occurred on a foggy night. The other ship involved in the collision was the Swedish ship Stockholm, which was going back to Europe. The Stockholm ripped a gash in the hull of the Andrea Doria. And the Andrea Doria then began to list, and some of its lifeboats became unusable. Five people on the Stockholm died, while 46 crew members and passengers on the Andrea Soria died. Over 1,600 other people were rescued as the Italian ship took 11 hours to sink.

The wreck occurred about 50 miles south of Nantucket in about 240 feet of water. For years, treasure-hunting divers have visited this site searching for money, china and artifacts from the past. Sixteen of these divers have died in their attempts. The Andrea Doria has been compared to Mount Everest. Just as the world's tallest peak is alluring and dangerous to mountaineers, the Andrea Doria has a similar appeal to divers.

According to OceanGate marketing director Joel Perry, one reason this is so dangerous is the depth and the risk of nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen narcosis is a condition in which too much nitrogen builds up in the blood, thus clouding the person’s judgement. The depth adds danger because visibility is poor and currents are unpredictable. There are also a lot of protrusions that can snag a diver.

Due to its depth, divers can only explore the wreck for about 20 minutes. The Cyclops I will be able to stay down for hours. It has an interior about the size of a Chevrolet Suburban. OceanGate plans to do two three-hour dives per day for one week. The mission will occur from June 2 to June 9. OceanGate is doing this expedition in order to document and observe, rather than to collect artifacts.

This expedition is being conducted with the assistance of Boston Harbor Cruises, which will provide the operational vessel, and iXBlue, which will provide navigation services. The Andrea Doria is quickly decaying, and the technology used in this expedition can help to build a 3-D map of the wreck. This highly accurate rendering can be used by scientists to compare with future decay.

These findings could also be significant for studying other shipwrecks. There are thousands of shipwrecks all around the world that need to be explored, and this expedition could be the first step.

The Mariana Trench is Not Silent

Those who know about the Mariana Trench most likely are aware of it because it contains the deepest spot in the planet. This phenomenon is located just East of the Philippines. It is over 1,000 miles long and 7 miles deep. It remained an unknown blemish to the ocean floor until the H.M.S Challenger went to go explore it in 1875. The members aboard that exploration could only measure the Mariana Trench’s depth up to five miles, due to a lack of appropriate equipment. In 1951, another excursion was sent to determine the entire depth of the trench. This one was successful.

The experience that humanity has with the Mariana Trench is still somewhat limited, as only two people have ever been able to reach its bottom. These two were the explorers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, who completed the dive in 1960. They spent hours reaching their destination, and were only able to spend 20 minutes on the ocean floor before they had to be pulled back to the surface. Despite the short length of their stay, both men were able to discern that, indeed, life exists at that depth.

It is therefore not as surprising as one would think that it was recently discovered that the Mariana Trench is, indeed, a noisy place. However, most of this noise is not caused by the marine life.

Many different organizations, such as researchers from the NOAA, researchers from Oregon State University, and even the United States Coast Guard have been able to record sound from the Mariana Trench. Researchers from the NOAA were able to discover that much of the sound deep in the ocean stems from moving tectonic plates, which prompt earthquakes, and noises made by whales. Also discernable, surprisingly, were the noises of ships passing over the Trench, bringing materials to the nearby Guam.

In 2015, the researchers finally put a hydrophone into the Mariana Trench in order to detect sound over long periods of time. It listened to every sounds for 23 days, and was examined accordingly.

Future research in the Mariana Trench is necessary to really be aware of what is occurring in the deepest point of the earth. Since the only two men able to make it to the bottom of the Trench had disturbed the ocean floor too much to take photos, we still do not have accurate photographic evidence of that point. Researchers are planning to attempt the dive again. However, first they will send another hydrophone down for a longer period of time, with a camera attached. I wait in anticipation of what it will find.

UNH Research Facilities

The University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center is dedicated to training future ocean mappers and hydrographers, and to creating tools to revolutionize each field. The research done by this institution includes improving sensors made to map large bodies of water for further accuracy, working on ocean mapping in 3D and 4D, and in-depth studies of coastal processes. In order to further the extent of the research performed, of course, the UNH has provided this Center with four kinds of incredible research facilities. The categories of facilities include Research Vessels, Test Tanks, Labs and Workspaces, and a Telepresence Console.

The Center’s research vessels are comprised of three boats and an onboard navigation system. The R/V Coastal Surveyor is built specifically for coastal multibeam hydrography . It travels around to collect sonar data from the water, which is very important in the Center’s research. The R/V Cocheco is owned by the NOAA and has the very different function of towing materials such as sidescan and cameras. The Center’s R/H Savabba is a different kind of vessel altogether. This crafty piece of technology is a hovercraft whose main purpose is to profile shallow and deep layers of arctic water.

The Center’s Test Tanks are comprised of an engineering tank and a wave tank. The engineering tank is for fresh water that is constantly filtered, and can hold almost 400,000 gallons. It is used for research, machine tests, and classes. The wave tank, on the other hand, is a somewhat smaller space with wave-maker software that helps test instrumentation.

As far as Labs and Workspaces go, the Center has some of the best equipment in the research field. There is a library with thousands of books and journals on ocean mapping and hydrography. There also exists state of the art computer labs and electronic labs, with a large number of equipment and tools. The High Bay facility has multiple work bays, and also holds the Center’s two test tanks. The machine shop is another large space filled to the brim with state of the art equipment, and the Data Visualization Research Lab is most focused on 3D simulations.

Finally, the Center’s Telepresence Console is one of several spread out across the United States. It is essential to remote research, as well as to the ability to collaborate with other researchers.

For more information on the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center, check out http://ccom.unh.edu/.