Seafloor imagery from a Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego scientist brings the oceans to life in a new version of Google Earth unveiled today. Scripps also contributed to Google Earth “Expedition Layer” with highlights from a two-and-a-half yearlong research voyage aboard Scripps’ research vessel Melville, detailing its more than 100,000 nautical miles journey during 49 research missions to study the western Pacific Ocean.

Scripps professor of geophysics David Sandwell and Walter Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supplied the global bathymetry data for the three-dimensional backdrop required for Google Earth users to explore the ocean world -- where marine life is thriving in unique communities near erupting deep-sea volcanoes and hydrothermal vents and where new islands are emerging from the seafloor.

“Our global seafloor map on Google Earth opens new possibilities for users to explore Earth’s most remote ocean environments, such as the East Pacific Rise and Mariana Trench,” said Sandwell, professor of geophysics in the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) at Scripps Oceanography.

Sandwell studies geological structures of deep-ocean basins using satellites and ships, with a focus on the undersea geology of uncharted areas of the South Pacific Ocean.  The bathymetry map, which is the most comprehensive record of the seafloor available, was integral to Google’s ocean project.

“Google Earth’s expansion into the ocean offers tremendous opportunities to educate the public about the challenges facing our planet, of which 70 percent lies underwater,” said Tony Haymet, director of Scripps and vice chancellor for Marine Sciences at UC San Diego. “This expansion provides scientists with an innovative platform to further advance scientific understanding of the world’s oceans and to organize and make accessible our increasing knowledge of the ocean for the public and scientists alike.”

As part of Google Earth’s dive into the oceans, Scripps was invited to contribute an “expedition layer,” which offers marine points of interest on Google’s virtual globe. Scripps provided highlights of a two-and-a-half year research voyage aboard Scripps’ R/V Melville. The research expedition took scientists across 10 countries and 17 ports and features a broad range of science, from undersea volcanoes to studies of Earth’s magnetic field.

Discoveries during the expedition included dramatic close-up observations of a deep-sea volcanic eruption, including red lava, plumes of ash, liquid carbon dioxide and molten sulfur, all of which were observed by a robotic submersible controlled from a command module aboard R/V Melville.

During the voyage, Scripps geophysicists Jeff Gee and Steve Cande used R/V Melville as an “aircraft carrier” to launch and recover unmanned aerial vehicles at sea to conduct studies on Earth’s geomagnetic field.

As part of Scripps’ ongoing commitment to research and education, the institution is developing a “Scripps layer” in Google Earth, which will detail the hundreds of Scripps-related ocean and earth science research projects taking place around the planet. Scripps scientists can be found on every continent and in every ocean as they collaborate on research with colleagues throughout the United States and in 65 nations in search of scientific answers that will shape the future of our planet.
 
•    R/V Melville Expedition: http://sio.ucsd.edu/google_oceans/Expeditions/Melville   

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at UC San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration.