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Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.

Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.
Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.
Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.
Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.
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207490
Cook, John E.
Seafloor sidescan image of Guaymas Basin.
Illustration
11/02/2012
graphics/Oceanus_v49n3/GuaymasScanArea2.jpg
Caption from Oceanus magazine, vol. 49, no. 3, pg. 48:
"There was a real possibility that wed go out there and see nothing-just mud," said Soule. But within hours it became apparent that the team was in luck. Against the dull gray background of seafloor sediment were dozens of bright reflective features. "These things stuck out like Christmas tree lights," said Soule. The sidescan images revealed about 100 of the reflective spots, most about 200 meters (219 yards) across and about 10 meters (11 yards) high. That was encouraging, but the most crucial test still lay ahead: Would there be a bright spot over the subsurface feature that Lizarralde had noticed in the seismic profile, which he thought had been created by intrusions of magma?
Image Of the Day caption:
In 2010, WHOI scientists Adam Soule and Dan Lizarralde searched for evidence that magma from below the seafloor had penetrated up into the sediments of the Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California. First they used multibeam sonar to map the seafloor terrain (brightly colored image). Then they used sidescan sonar to find out whether the ocean floor was just mud or included hard structures. What they found were dozens of hard features about 200 meters across and 10 meters tall, indicating that magma from deep below the seafloor had intruded up into the sediments a process that had been thought to occur only near spreading centers (purple cleft) and mid-ocean ridges.
Illustration by Jack Cook
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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