google maps has more detail?

Muzzoid

Since when can you see the sea floor. so crazy.

Its pretty ominous just looking at challenger deep or the crazy big scrathes on the bottom. Challenger deep being the deepest part of the ocean.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Challenger+Deep&hl=en&ll=11.662996,142.305908&spn=5.141389,8.453979&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&geocode=FdXurAAdwMx5CA&hnear=Challenger+Deep&t=h&z=8

Noodle!

really interesting to see it like that, you can really imagine one tectonic plate being pushed under the other one. I wonder how many million years before it's pushed up far enough to become a new set of islands or even one big landmass connected to japan and maybe mainland china?

eld

Muzz wrote: »

Since when can you see the sea floor. so crazy.

To blow your mind: get google earth, proceed to visit the moon and mars, and after you're done with that, check out the skymap, and then zoom until you zoom past the stars,

find galaxies in the thousands!

Muzzoid

Oh wow! didnt even realise!

Thats so cool.

How do you think they made the underwater view?

Xoliul

Something like a lit heightmap I guess? I bet DEM data for the oceans is available to them.

Japhir

To create depth maps, scientists measure the difference in average depth on the surface water with satellites (average to correct for waves), and can actually reconstruct the size of sea mounts due to their gravitational pull. The sea mounts are so large, that they pull the water around them and create a subtle bulge in the surface water. Yay for marine biology! .

Oh, and also radar from a boat. :P