Images related to Seafloor Features Are Revealed by the Gravity Field

New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features
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New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features

The recent discovery of the Mammerickx Microplate was made possible by new satellite-derived maps of the ocean floor.

Published Jan 13, 2016

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Earth’s Gravity Field
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Earth’s Gravity Field

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has released its first science product: the most accurate map yet of Earth’s gravity field.

Published Jul 30, 2003

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Water Flow in the Amazon
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Water Flow in the Amazon

Published Sep 10, 2004

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Cruising for Ocean Data
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Cruising for Ocean Data

Scientists from NASA are cruising on a research vessel from Tasmania to Tahiti by way of the Southern Ocean. Their objective: gather detailed measurements of Pacific sea water that will be used to validate satellite measurements

Published Apr 5, 2014

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Studying Earth’s Gravity Field
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Studying Earth’s Gravity Field

The first image released from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a joint NASA-German Aerospace Center mission, graphically illustrates the sensitivity of the mission’s twin spacecraft to changes in Earth’s gravity

Published Dec 11, 2002

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A Measure of Salt
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A Measure of Salt

One year after its launch, the Aquarius instrument is giving ocean sciences its first global view of sea surface salinity.

Published Jun 12, 2012

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Signs of the U.S. Drought Are Underground
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Signs of the U.S. Drought Are Underground

The GRACE satellites can detect the movement and depletion of water supplies at and below Earth’s surface.

Published Sep 20, 2012

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Satellites Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools
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Satellites Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools

Submerged in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain and Portugal are giant, salty whirlpools of warm water. These deep-water whirlpools are part of the ocean’s circulatory system, and they help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth’s climate. Warm water ordinarily sits at the ocean’s surface, but the warm water flowing out of the Mediterranean Sea is so salty (and therefore dense) that when it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar, it sinks to depths of more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile) along the continental shelf. This underwater river then separates into clockwise-flowing eddies that may continue to spin westward for more than two years, often coalescing with other eddies to form giant, salty whirlpools that may stretch for hundreds of miles. Because the eddies originate from the Mediterranean Sea, scientists call them “Meddies.”

Published Mar 23, 2006

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