Questions tagged [bathymetry]

For questions that concern the topographic characteristics or landforms present on the floor of lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water.

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10 votes
2 answers
677 views

Most amenable coastal geographic conditions for harbors?

I've been trying to find sources detailing the natural geographic features most suitable for shipping harbors along a coast—primarily for international trade. So far, I've read vague reference to ...
  • 103
5 votes
0 answers
65 views

Surprisingly deep rivers

I just read that the Congo River is >200m (650 ft) deep - I had no idea that this is even remotely possible! Q1: What are the processes leading to a river being this deep? Q2: By which method is ...
2 votes
3 answers
111 views

What does "-4,257m" mean in Google Earth?

When I move my pointer around the pin (89.99 N) shown below, Google Earth displays the camera distance, latitude, longitude accordingly. I'd just like to know what does "-4,257m" mean, ...
  • 123
5 votes
1 answer
110 views

Before the artificial changes of the Aral Sea, what was its average depth and salinity?

The Aral Sea was a major lake of the USSR until it suffered artificial changes, which began sometime no later than the 1960s. I am unfortunately not sure when major artificial changes began. ...
  • 2,073
3 votes
1 answer
224 views

Best way to interpolate bathymetry with a directional component?

I have a bathymetry dataset that has a small section missing. I need to fill in this section. The bathymetry in this region has some strongly directional features (e.g. a canyon that runs through the ...
1 vote
0 answers
173 views

Issues with projection and fig using python and mpl_toolkits.basemap

I currently have depth data that I am plotting with the code below. The problem that I am having has to do with the figure python is spitting out. The figure is really tiny. I have tried a few things ...
  • 11
5 votes
2 answers
763 views

estimation of prehistoric sea levels

From what reference point/level are prehistorical (e.g., Precambrian era) sea levels estimated? As I understand things, the following are true: Since the formation of continents, land elevations ...
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why do fjords have sills?

I have read about some of the geologic processes that are related to the formation of fjords. Is the presence of sills in fjords related to the deposition of glacial moraine?
  • 283
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to determine ocean bottom depth for a data set consisting of longitude and latitude?

Given a data set which consists of pairs of longitudes and latitudes, is it possible to determine an estimate of the ocean bottom depth at that point? I can find maps of estimated sea depths online (...
  • 21
5 votes
1 answer
118 views

Is it possible to infer the depth of a river from the shapes of the islands and the banks?

Look at the photo below. Presumably, the river bed is a smooth shape. Therefore, it should be possible to infer the depth of the water from the photo, right? I am not even an amateur of geo-science. ...
  • 231
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the average depth of the ocean?

We know that the ocean depth is varies from ocean to ocean. Mariana trench is about 11 km deep. If we consider as a whole, what is the average depth of the ocean?
9 votes
4 answers
293 views

Confusion about grid registration concepts and their relevance in modelling

I'm trying to make use of the ETOPO1 dataset as the bathymetry input of a wave model. I came upon this discussion of grid registration: Registration of Structured Square-Cell Grids. I read this ...
  • 1,811
8 votes
1 answer
108 views

What is the error in bathymetric observations in the presence of vegetation?

How can we determine the error associated with bathymetric measurements when we survey over submerged vegetation? Let's say we are using single-beam echo-sounder over a patch of Posidonia, what are ...
  • 15.3k
10 votes
1 answer
867 views

Does bathymetry affect ocean topography/height?

Here is a map of ocean surface height or topography: Source: http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2010/12/mean_dynamic_topography_of_global_ocean/9930795-2-eng-GB/...
  • 1,811
10 votes
1 answer
737 views

How do I find the volume of ocean between any two layers of ocean depth?

I'm interested in this problem because I'm interested in obtaining a rough estimate of the average temperature increase of the sea given a net radiative forcing of 0.6 W/m^2. But in order to obtain ...
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