OCG 301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Continental Margin, Echo Sounding, Bathymetry
Document Summary
Early bathymetric studies were often performed using a weighted line to measure the depth of the ocean floor. Bathymetry: the discovery and study of ocean floor contours. Echo sounding: method of measuring seafloor depth using powerful sound pulses. Accuracy affected by water conditions and bottom contours. The first sound of the returning echo is used to sense depth (deep depression measurements are often inaccurate) Multibeam systems: provide more accurate measurements than echo sounders. Collect data from as many as 121 beams to measure the contours of the ocean floor. Satellite altimetry: measure the sea surface height from orbit. Bounce 1,000 pulses of radar energy off the ocean surface every second. Occurs when extra gravitational attraction of the feature pulls water toward it from the sides forming a mound of water over itself. Continental margins; the submerged outer edge of a continent. Continental shelf: shallow, submerged edge of continent. Continental slope: transition between the continental shelf and deep-ocean floor.
