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NOAA 2000-309 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Patricia Viets 7/25/00 |
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A color poster depicting the floor of the Northern Gulf of Mexico was recently released by the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The map presents a detailed look of the terrain of the Gulf floor. The poster, which is a bathymetric map, was released by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "Bathymetric mapping is the ocean-floor equivalent of topographic mapping on land, showing the highs and lows of the terrain. Bathymetry is used in scientific research and modeling, natural resource exploration, environmental policy-making, as well as in the classroom," explained NGDC Geophysicist Lisa A. Taylor. Bathymetric maps are also used for expeditions aboard scientific research vessels. Bathymetry is of interest to sport and commercial fishermen for identifying areas where a particular species of fish is likely to be found. Fishery managers also use bathymetry to calculate the habitat available to various species of fish. This production of the map is a long-term effort by NGDC, Texas A&M University, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission's International Bathymetric Chart of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico project. A preview of the poster is available online in NGDC's Web site at: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/00mgg02.html |