Sea 3-D: Charting the Ocean Floor

Joan Johnson Post on Sep 18, 2007 by
Topics: Environment, Geology, Television
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Using sound and laser technology, researchers have begun to reveal the secrets of the ocean floor from the Sonoma Coast to Monterey Bay. By creating complex 3-D maps, they're hoping to learn more about waves and achieve ambitious conservation goals.

You may view the "Sea 3-D: Charting the Ocean Floor" TV story online, as well as find additional links and resources.


Joan Johnson is a Segment Producer and Associate Producer for QUEST on KQED Television.

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  • Brian

    As an underwater archaeologist, I was fascinated by this segment and the potential applicability of the high-resolution imagery created by this technique to the location of shipwrecks and other submerged cultural resources. I was wondering if you could provide contact information for the Principal Investigators conducting this research.

    Thanks!

  • https://www.navo.navy.mil Shannon Breland

    Great overview of multibeam sonar! Thanks for sharing such a great story about the environmental benefits of oceanographic work.

  • Joan Johnson

    Hello Brian,

    Funny you should mention shipwrecks. Just days before I went out to film this story, Rikk received a phone call from a fisherman who believes he's found a very old shipwreck near where we were filming in Half Moon Bay. We were going to go out to the site and use the sonar head to confirm the wreck, but the weather didn't hold up. So yes, this technology can be applied to underwater archaeology – which I find fascinating, by the way.

    To learn more about it, I'd suggest you visit the CSUMB Seafloor Mapping Lab website at http://seafloor.csumb.edu/

    Thanks for your comment!
    Joan

  • greg

    very awesome story. i too have been fascinated by shipwrecks in the area, but of radiological proportions; see:

    http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-05-09/news/fallout/

    these stories need to intertwine in a future piece.