Research Tools: “Gazetteer Catalogs Ocean Features”

From the National Centers for Environmental Information:

As ships and ocean observers criss-cross the globe to study undersea terrain, a web directory tracks the growing knowledge of the ocean floor. In an effort at standardization, hydrographers, research institutes, governments, and others from the global maritime community utilize an NCEI-built tool to sort and name newly discovered places in the ocean. 

The GEBCO Undersea Feature Names Gazetteer, hosted online by the International Hydrographic Organization’s Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (IHO DCDB).

The tool simplifies tracking so that if a place has already secured a name or has been christened by a discoverer, duplication in naming is less likely), co-located with NCEI, allows the public to search for, view, and download information about more than 3,800 undersea features. The public can find information including geographic location, feature dimensions, the discoverer, and the origin of the name. The tool simplifies tracking so that if a place has already secured a name or has been christened by a discoverer, duplication in naming is less likely. The Gazetteer also reduces misidentification.

From mud volcanoes to reefs, the Gazetteer uses several criteria for browsing seafloor features throughout the world’s oceans. Users can search for locations with a few dropdown menus and a world map. Dropdown menus filter for feature type (reef, barrier, seamount or more than 100 others), by discoverer, and by feature name, if available. 

Direct to GEBCO Undersea Feature Names Gazetteer

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