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SEARCH| Learn more about these OCEAN and COASTAL RESEARCH areas... |
Ocean Exploration and Undersea Research
Explore these research areas in more detail:
Technologies and Capabilities for Ocean Research and Exploration
- New approaches, such as advanced sea floor observatories and human-occupied habitats, provide invaluable opportunities for long-term monitoring and continuity of observations. Ships, submersibles, new diving technologies and observation tools allow us to examine the oceans in systematic, scientific and noninvasive ways.
Integrated Ocean Mapping
- A primary product of exploration is new and improved maps that characterize ocean regions and document physical, biological, geological, chemical, and archaeological aspects of the ocean. NOAA efforts include high-resolution bathymetric mapping, comprehensive mapping of benthic habitats and monitoring tsunami hazards.
Deep-sea Corals
- Thickets of corals found in dark frigid waters serve as habitat for diverse organisms including fish and invertebrate communities. Like trees, they add annual growth rings that are important indicators of past climates. Deep-sea coral ecosystems provide a rich biodiversity that may be a future source of novel bio-compounds for development by pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Hydrothermal Vents
- Over 70% of the earth's volcanic activity takes place beneath the
sea surface, where it has an impact on deep ocean mixing, the global
chemical and heat balance, and ancient biological communities. NOAA
Research utilizes exploration, long-term time series observations, remote
monitoring, and innovative oceanographic instrumentation to look at
effects on the oceans of deep-sea volcanoes and hydrothermal systems.
Technologies and Capabilities for Ocean Research and Exploration
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NOAA Research programs that study Ocean Exploration and Undersea Research:
Pacific
Marine Environmental Laboratory
NOAA’s
Undersea Research Program
NOAA’s
Ocean Explorer Website
NOAA's
Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
NOAA’s
Earth System Laboratory
