Seafloor

Exploring the deep ocean sounds interesting, but it is also challenging because of conditions like high liquid pressure and depth.

Over time, we have developed tools and techniques to overcome these challenges and study the deep ocean.

Early seafloor explorers mapped the seafloor by lowering weighted lines from ships and measuring their length when they reached the bottom. These maps, called the bathymetric maps, show the depth of oceans.

Today, this technique has evolved with advanced echo sounders that send sound waves in all directions and help to plot detailed three-dimensional ocean floor maps.

But mapping alone isn’t enough. So, scientists collect water samples from different depths in Niskin bottles and analyze them.

Complementing this, there are submersibles which are manned submarines that enable scientists to dive thousands of meters below the surface and collect water and rock samples using robotic arms.

However, in dangerous conditions, such as near an active underwater volcano where humans cannot go, remotely operated vehicles that act like underwater robots come to the rescue.