Earth's Ocean Mapped in Greatest Detail Yet

When talking about the ocean, you often hear that we know the surface of Mars better than we know our own oceans. A new map changes that a bit. It's twice as accurate overall and more than four times more accurate in some areas. It adds a lot of information to our admittedly sketchy knowledge of the ocean floor.

About 15,000 new seamounts have been identified, and while most of them run in chains, there are plenty that are more isolated, and studying these may help scientists just what cause volcanoes to form away from fault lines. Mantle plumes are a topic of debate in the geologic community, apparently. Hey, I don't know, I'm not much a geologist.

What I find more interesting is the mapping of abyssal hills. I, just like pretty much everybody else in the world, have probably never heard of these before, and yet, they're the most common surface feature on Earth. These hills aren't a new discovery, but they've never been mapped before, and they must be everywhere. It really is surprising to learn how little we know about our own oceans, every new bit of research brings back so much information, and raises so many more questions.

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