Marine Geology Data

Why Study Seafloor Composition?

World Data Center for Geophysics & Marine Geology

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Our sincerest thanks to the scientists who contributed ideas for this summary.

How can data derived from seafloor samples be used?

• To study past climate change for environmental prediction.
• To understand the impact of benthic habitat on fisheries and other biological communities.
• To study offshore pollution patterns and mechanisms to help sustain healthy coasts.
• To find sources of dredged material for beach replenishment.
• To evaluate the impacts of proposed offshore waste disposal.
• To learn about and estimate the impacts of events such as gas hydrate releases related to slope stability.
• To locate strategic offshore mineral resources.
• To determine sites for seabed communications cables, drilling platforms, & other structures.
• To provide groundtruth values for remotely sensed/satellite data, helping refine new techniques for environmental assessment and prediction.
• To learn more about how the Earth and its environmental systems function.
• More about the role of seafloor sediment in understanding the processes of environmental change.

What Can You Find in Marine Sediment?

Why are data from the Seafloor important to NOAA's Mission and Strategic Goals?

NOAA's Mission:

"To understand and predict changes in Earth's environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs."

Some of NOAA's Goals:

• Understand Climate Variability and Change to Enhance Society's Ability to Plan and Respond. -
  Seafloor sediment provide an invaluable key to past climate change. Finely varved sediments from areas of rapid deposition provide a high-resolution record of past climate variation, and volcanic ash layers contribute to the comprehensive study of climate change on relatively short timescales. Analysis of sediment for components such as carbonates and isotopes provide baseline information for global modeling of environmental change.
  
  
• Protect, Restore, and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources Through an Ecosystem Approach to Management -
  Build Sustainable Fisheries: Sediment composition and physical properties are key factors in evaluating benthic habitat for fisheries. To quote from a September 1999 technical memorandum issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service:
  "The texture of surficial sediments, defined as the size-frequency distribution of unconsolidated grains, is an important attribute of the coastal ocean environment. In addition to purely geological applications, data of this type have great utility in habitat studies seeking to explain the distribution and abundance of important biological resources." "Sediment texture is one of many potential factors influencing the distribution and abundance of groundfish. The relative distribution of grain sizes affects sediment properties such as porosity, permeability, and resistance to displacement (Allen 1985, Selley 1988). These properties, in turn, may directly (e.g., self-burial to reduce exposure to predators) or indirectly (e.g., suitability for essential prey organisms) affect fish habitat quality, as measured by rates of growth, survival, reproduction, and recruitment."(1)
  Sustain Healthy Coasts: Coastal sediment data analyses play a role in understanding coastal habitat and help determine the extent, nature, and transport of pollutants. Sediment data assist in determining sources of appropriate material for beach replenishment, and are an integral data layer in GIS analysis of coastal environments for a variety of purposes.
  
  Protect, conserve and restore coastal habitats and their biodiversity.
  Promote clean coastal waters to sustain living marine resources and ensure safe recreation, healthy seafood and economic vitality.
  Foster well-planned and revitalized coastal communities....
  Management of Other Offshore Resources:
  In addition to key environmental analysis and assessment roles, seafloor studies have other economic value. Sediment properties are crucial in placement of seabed cables, data from exploratory wells are necessary to evaluate sites for offshore drilling, and geochemical studies are necessary for evaluation of offshore hard mineral resources. (2)

View the NOAA 2006-2011 Strategic Plan in .PDF form

What Can You Find in Marine Sediment?


More Educational Links | The Index to Marine Geological Samples | Marine Geology