A new version of Google Earth released last week includes seafloor images collected by a UCSD scientist during the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s recent two-and-a-half-year research voyage across the western Pacific Ocean.
Aboard Scripps research vessel Melville ‘mdash; which traveled more than 100,000 nautical miles before returning to San Diego last September ‘mdash; Scripps geophysics professor David Sandwell and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher Walter Smith gathered global bathymetry data that now allows Google Earth users to explore a 3-D map of deep-sea marine life, erupting volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.
The most comprehensive record of the Pacific Ocean seafloor to date, the map offers access to remote ocean environments such as the East Pacific Rise and Mariana Trench.
‘Google Earth’s expansion into the ocean offers tremendous opportunities to educate the public about the challenges facing our planet, of which 70 percent lies underwater,’ said Tony Haymet, Scripps director and vice chancellor of marine sciences at UCSD. ‘This expansion provides scientists with an innovative platform to further advance scientific understanding of the world’s oceans and to organize and make accessible our increasing knowledge of the ocean for the public and scientists alike.’
Scripps also contributed highlights from its Melville mission to Google Earth’s ‘Expedition Layer,’ which displays points of marine interest on a virtual globe.
The Melville brought researchers to 10 countries and 17 ports primarily to study the Earth’s magnetic field and observe deep-sea volcanic eruption. Using a robotic craft controlled by a command module aboard the vessel, the scientists collected dynamic underwater images of red lava, ash, liquid carbon dioxide and molten sulfur.