Scientists have created a new map of the world's seafloor, offering a more vivid picture of the structures that make up the deepest, least-explored parts of the ocean.
The feat was accomplished by accessing two untapped streams of satellite data.
Thousands of previously uncharted mountains rising from the seafloor, called seamounts, have emerged through the map, along with new clues about the formation of the continents.
Combined with existing data and improved remote sensing instruments, the map, described today in the journal
Science, gives scientists new tools to investigate ocean spreading centers and little-studied remote ocean basins.
Earthquakes were also mapped. In addition, the researchers discovered that seamounts and earthquakes are often linked.
Most seamounts were once active volcanoes, and so are usually found near tectonically active plate boundaries, mid-ocean ridges and subducting zones.
The new map is twice as accurate as the previous version produced nearly 20 years ago, say the researchers, who are affiliated with California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and other institutions.
Comment: SOTT's been talking about methane outgassing for quite some time. Just a few results from a cursory search here on methane outgassing:
Arctic Ocean leaking methane faster than anticipated
Vast methane plumes discovered escaping from Arctic seafloor north of Siberia
New climate change threat: Arctic seabed releases millions of tons of methane into atmosphere