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We are only a little less ignorant about the Planet Earth .

to galvanizing The initiative, The Creation of a complete map of The Ocean floor, says a fifth of this task is now complete.

If the market was the introduction in 2016, only 6% of the global ocean-had the floor, were interviewed, what could be called a modern Standard.

this number is now at 19%, from 16% in just the Last Year .

14. 5 million sq km of new bathymetric (depth) data in the GEBCO grid in 2019 - an area equivalent to almost twice that of Australia.

It does, however, still a large swath of uncharted planet to an acceptable level.

"Today, we are at the 19% level. That is, we have yet to survey 81% of the oceans yet, nor the card. To capture the is an area about twice the size of Mars, which we have, in The Next ten years," project Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips told Bbc News .

will be thrown down The card at The Top of this page The Challenge of GEBCO in The Coming years. shows

Black is for those areas where we do not receive a direct echo sounding measurements of The Shape of The Ocean floor. Blues correspond to water depths (deep purple, flat, light blue).

It is not true to say that we have no idea of what is in The Black zones; Satellites have actually much to teach us. Certain space ship wear, from The Way its gravity to the surface of the water formed at The Top - But that is only a best resolution to about One Kilometer, and the bottom of The Sea in 2030 has a desire for a resolution of at least 100m anywhere.

be Better needed sea floor maps for a variety of reasons.

they are important for navigation, of course, and for the laying of underwater cables and pipelines.

they are also important for fisheries management and conservation, Because it is gather around the underwater mountains, which tends to wild animals. Each seamount is a biodiversity hotspot.

In addition, the rugged sea bottom, the behavior of The Ocean affects currents and the vertical mixing of the water.

This is the information to improve The Models that forecast future Climate Change Because the oceans play a crucial role in moving heat around The Planet . And if you want to understand exactly how sea levels will rise, in different parts of The World , well on The Ocean floor-maps are a must.

much of the data that were imported into the GEBCO grid has been recently in existence for some time, But was "on a shelf sit," out of the Public Domain . The companies, institutions and governments that held this information have now passed - and There are probably a lot more to be Released from these hidden resource.

But new purchases will be required. Some of these come from a large crowdsourcing-effort - of ships, large and small, matter-of-factly your sonar system, as they transit The World . Also, small ships, Fishing boats and yachts Can loggers do their part by installing data to your sonar, and navigation devices.

is A very effective strategy, evidence from The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) operates in the more remote parts of The World - and it is easy to mix up the paths and routes of ships.

"Very early on we adopted the ethos that data should be collected on the journey - on The Way to where we went, not only at The Site of interest," says BAS scientist Dr Rob Larter.

"A good example is (between South America and Antarctica). A lot was purchased, the moves of various research projects, as they fanned out and back and forth to the places you go. "

New technology is essential to the GEBCO-quest.

The Ocean of infinity, a prominent UK-US company that leads The Sea -floor surveys, is currently building, through a subsidiary, calls the Armada. This start-up's MD, Dan hook, says low-cost, uncrewed vehicles may be the only way to close some of the gaps in the out-of-the-Art locations in the year 2030 grid.

He told Bbc News : "If you consider the mapping of the seabed in areas where you see closer to shore, The Business case very quickly. Whether it is laying for wind farms or cable - There are many people who want to know what is Down There . But if these very remote areas of the Earth is the case, then it is really just a scientific. "

Jamie McMichael-Phillips is confident in his project-goal Can be achieved if we all pull together.

"I'm confident, But to do it, we need partnerships. We need governments, we need industry, we need scientists, we are philanthropists need, and we need citizen scientists. We all have to get these people together, if we provide a ocean map, which is absolutely fundamental and important to mankind. "

GEBCO stands for General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans. It is the only intergovernmental organization with a mandate to map the entire sea floor. The current status of your sea ground by 2030-a project was announced to coincide with World Hydrography Day.

Source of news: bbc.com