Abstract
Since CHC2006, the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center has mapped with multibeam, the bathymetry of an additional ~220,000 km2 of seafloor in areas as diverse as the Arctic, the Northern Marianas of the western Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. The mapping supports any potential U.S. submission for of extended continental shelves under Article 76 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. Consequently, the mapping has concentrated on capturing the complete extent of the 2500-m isobath and the zone where the Article 76-defined foot of the slope exists. In practice, the complete area between ~1500 and ~4500 m water depths is mapped in each region (with the exception of the Arctic Ocean). The data have been collected in conditions that range from harsh Arctic sea ice to the calms of the Philippine Sea tropics. Although, some of the conditions have limited the quality of some of the data, the data quality is generally quite good and geological surprises have been uncovered on each of the cruises.
Department
Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping
Publication Date
5-2008
Journal Title
Canadian Hydrographic Conference
Conference Date
May 5 - May 8, 2008
Publisher Place
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher
Canadian Hydrographic Association
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Recommended Citation
Gardner, James V.; Mayer, Larry A.; and Armstrong, Andy, "From the Arctic to the Tropics: The U.S. UNCLOS Bathymetric Mapping Program" (2008). Canadian Hydrographic Conference. 422.
https://scholars.unh.edu/ccom/422
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