Climate: New Digital Map of World's Seafloor Created by Scientists

We're finally getting a better look at our world's seafloor. Researchers have created a digital map of the seafloor's geology, which could tell scientists quite a bit more about this deep world.

"In order to understand environmental change in the oceans we need to better understand what is preserved in the geological record in the seabed," said Adriana Dutkiewicz, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The deep ocean floor is a graveyard with much of it made up of the remains of microscopic sea creatures called phytoplankton, which thrive in sunlit surface waters. The composition of these remains can help decipher how oceans have responded in the past to climate change."

A group of phytoplankton, called diatoms, produce about a quarter of the oxygen that we breathe. They also contribute to curtailing global warming by sinking to the bottom of the ocean and locking away the carbon that they accumulate over their lives. The new map actually shows the diatom accumulations on the seafloor are nearly entirely independent of diatom blooms in surface waters in the Southern Ocean.

"This disconnect demonstrates that we understand the carbon source, but not the sink," said Dietmar Muller, one of the researchers.

The findings pave the way to future exploration voyages aimed at studying the workings and history of the marine carbon cycle. That said, the new findings are also a huge resource for researchers who plan to study how climate impacts the ocean.

"The old map suggests much of the Southern Ocean around Australia is mainly covered by clay blown off the continent, whereas our map shows this area is actually a complex patchwork of microfossil remains," said Dutkiewicz. "Life in the Southern Ocean is much richer than previously thought."

The findings are published in the journal Geology.

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