Nearly 100,000 structures spotted under the ocean for the first time

Scientists have observed thousands of mountains inside Earth's oceans that had never been seen before. They used advanced satellite observations to create a high-resolution map of the ocean floor that shows nearly 100,000 such structures. David Sandwell from Scripps Institution of Oceanography was part of the latest effort, besides the SWOT mission that was launched in 2022.

Underwater mountains are also known as seamounts, and detecting those that are less than about 3,300 feet in height has always been difficult. However, the use of satellites has helped scientists spot seamounts that are half that size.

The satellite noted tiny gravitational “bumps” on the water’s surface and showed the location of these newly discovered peaks. The revelations have increased the number of known seamounts from 44,000 to nearly 100,000.

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Gravity is what helped discover the new mountains. Seamounts have more mass than the surrounding seafloor, and so have a slightly stronger pull on the ocean. The water surface on these locations rises a little, but it is extremely small, sometimes even only a few centimetres. Satellites help in such a scenario as they can spot such subtle changes easily.

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Sonar technology is mostly used to map the ocean floors. However, the drawback with them is that they can only cover a narrow strip of seafloor in a day. But they can take detailed images, as opposed to satellite imagery.

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However, satellites come with other benefits, as they can cover more ground each day. Something like SWOT can scan about 90 per cent of the Earth every 21 days. Ships also come with several expenses, such as fuel, and take a lot of time.

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But ships have been the preferred way to observe the ocean floor since those equipped with sonar instruments can survey the ocean bottom directly. The method has only led to about one-quarter of the seafloor being explored. This prompted scientists to use satellites to reveal more data and information about what lies beneath the ocean floor.