Deep Soundings: Stories from the Ocean Floor

On most of the planet, the seafloor is vast, remote, and difficult to access. Strangely, though, the hardest stuff to map in detail is the area right off the coast. That's right: even near some of the world's most heavily populated areas, the minute contours of the bottom are kind of a mystery. Teams of scientists are working to solve this problem using new and innovative techniques—and with each new development, they're revealing new details about waters critical to shipping, transportation, fishing, and disaster response.

In this series, dive in with us to learn what this work is revealing about the seafloor, especially in areas right under our noses.