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Bathymetry (/ b ə ˈ θ ɪ m ə t r i /; from Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús) 'deep' and μέτρον (métron) 'measure') [1] [2] is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (seabed topography), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography.
The process was labor-intensive and time-consuming and, although each individual depth measurement could be accurate, even a thorough survey as a practical matter could include only a limited number of sounding measurements relative to the area being surveyed, inevitably leaving gaps in coverage between soundings.
Bathymetric charts showcase depth using a series of lines and points at equal intervals, called depth contours or isobaths (a type of contour line). A closed shape with increasingly smaller shapes inside of it can indicate an ocean trench or a seamount, or underwater mountain, depending on whether the depths increase or decrease going inward.
A sailor and a man on shore, both sounding the depth with a line. Depth sounding, often simply called sounding, is measuring the depth of a body of water.Data taken from soundings are used in bathymetry to make maps of the floor of a body of water, such as the seabed topography.
A depth gauge is an instrument for measuring depth below a vertical reference surface. They include depth gauges for underwater diving and similar applications. A diving depth gauge is a pressure gauge that displays the equivalent depth below the free surface in water. The relationship between depth and pressure is linear and accurate enough ...
The instrument is lowered into the water in what is called the downcast to a determined depth or to a few meters above the ocean floor, generally at a rate of about 0.5 m/s. Most of the time a conducting wire cable is attached to the CTD frame connecting the CTD to an onboard computer, and allows instantaneous uploading and real time ...
The depth was determined (rather inaccurately) by the time it took to surface. [3] Jacob Perkins (1766–1849) proposed a bathometer based on the compressibility of water. [ 4 ] In this instrument the movement of a piston compressing a body of water enclosed in its cylinder is dependent on the pressure of the water outside the cylinder, and ...
The depth at which the disk is no longer visible is taken as a measure of the transparency of the water. This measure is known as the Secchi depth and is related to water turbidity . Since its invention, the disk has also been used in a modified, smaller 20 cm (8 in) diameter, black-and-white design to measure freshwater transparency.