Global Sea Floor Topography from Satellite Altimetry and Ship Depth Soundings
Abstract
A digital bathymetric map of the oceans with a horizontal resolution of 1 to 12 kilometers was derived by combining available depth soundings with high-resolution marine gravity information from the Geosat and ERS-1 spacecraft. Previous global bathymetric maps lacked features such as the 1600-kilometer-long Foundation Seamounts chain in the South Pacific. This map shows relations among the distributions of depth, sea floor area, and sea floor age that do not fit the predictions of deterministic models of subsidence due to lithosphere cooling but may be explained by a stochastic model in which randomly distributed reheating events warm the lithosphere and raise the ocean floor.
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- Authors
- Smith, W. H. F., & Sandwell, D. T.
- Affiliations
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Corresponding author
- Smith, Walter H. F.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1997-09-26
- Volume
- 277
- Issue
- 5334
- Pages
- 1956-1962
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2021959819
- Cited by
- 4,709
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 75 · 2025: 100 · 2024: 116 · 2023: 151 · 2022: 146 · 2021: 213 · 2020: 199 · 2019: 203 · 2018: 180 · 2017: 200 · 2016: 181 · 2015: 184 · 2014: 213 · 2013: 218 · 2012: 215
- FWCI
- 85.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Underwater Acoustics Research
- Keywords
- seafloor bathymetry, satellite altimetry, marine gravity, Geosat, ERS-1
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