Bathymetry

Bathymetry ; from ocean floors seabed topography, lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is a underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The number one recorded evidence of water depth measurements are from Ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago. Bathymetric or hydrographic charts are typically featured to assistance safety of surface or sub-surface navigation, and commonly show seafloor relief or terrain as contour lines called depth contours or isobaths and selected depths soundings, as well as typically also afford surface navigational information. Bathymetric maps the more general term where navigational safety is non a concern may also use a Digital Terrain Model and artificial illumination techniques to illustrate the depths being portrayed. The global bathymetry is sometimes combined with topography data to yield a global relief model. Paleobathymetry is the explore of past underwater depths.

Seabed topography

Seabed topography ocean topography or marine topography covered to the bracket of the land topography when it interfaces with the ocean. These shapes are obvious along coastlines, but they occur also in significant ways underwater. The effectiveness of marine habitats is partially defined by these shapes, including the way they interact with and nature ocean currents, and the way sunlight diminishes when these landforms occupy increasing depths. Tidal networks depend on the balance between sedimentary processes and hydrodynamics however, anthropogenic influences can affect the natural system more than any physical driver.

Marine topographies include coastal and oceanic landforms ranging from coastal estuaries and shorelines to continental shelves and coral reefs. Further out in the open ocean, they put underwater and deep sea features such as ocean rises and seamounts. The submerged surface has mountainous features, including a globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system, as well as undersea volcanoes, oceanic trenches, submarine canyons, oceanic plateaus and abyssal plains.