The red 2 kilometer scale bar is placed near a feature that rises approximately 280 meters from the surrounding seafloor. The crater in the center of the cone-like structure indicates this feature might be volcanic.

The red 2 kilometer scale bar is placed near a feature that rises approximately 280 meters from the surrounding seafloor. The crater in the center of the cone-like structure indicates this feature might be volcanic. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program. Download larger version (jpg, 1.4 MB).

Onboard Science Operations Become Smoother And More Efficient
October 22, 2010

While Okeanos Explorer continues underway to California, onboard science operations become smoother and more efficient. Mapping operations continue to go well as watchstanders acquire and process data around-the-clock. Water depths during this cruise have consistently reached depths greater than 5000m, approaching the maximum limits of the EM302 multibeam sonar’s capability to resolve small-scale features. Satellite-derived bathymetry (Sandwell & Smith) provides invaluable guidance on what the mapping team onboard the Okeanos Explorer will encounter while exploring new areas of the seafloor. Sometimes, however, the satellite-derived bathymetry is misleading - in today’s case (see associated image), we were expecting to see a slight rise in the seafloor, indicated by the red oval feature in the background image. In reality, a series of small ridges of up to 125 meters high, indicated by black arrows, was found.