NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

What is it really like under the Indian Ocean?

By Joanne Whittaker, Simon Williams
Other·
17 Jun, 2014 04:36 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo / Thinkstock

Photo / Thinkstock

Not long after the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was declared missing, the world's attention was focused on a remote, poorly known area of the Eastern Indian Ocean as the possible location of the lost aircraft.

What this tragedy has highlighted is how little we know about the ocean floor.

This region, and for that matter much of our world's oceans, are often described as poorly explored. But what do we mean by poorly explored and why do we know so little?

Exploring a region of the ocean typically involves travelling to an area on a ship and collecting detailed information. The data collected falls into two main categories:

• geological - anything about the seafloor and the material beneath

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• oceanographic - all things in the water column, including its biology, chemistry, and physics

The view from above

What we currently know about the majority of the seafloor comes from data collected by satellites. This data enables us to construct global maps of ocean depth by inferring the shape of the ocean bottom from the shape of the water surface above.

The problem is that these data don't resolve features smaller than about 20 kilometers in diameter. This means that smaller features - even individual underwater mountains up to 1.5 km high - are sometimes not detected by the satellite measurements.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In contrast, detailed depth measurements (bathymetry) collected by ships have a much higher resolution.

At the significant depths (between 3km and 6km) of the MH370 search region, typical resolutions are around 30m to 150m horizontally.

These two images clearly demonstrate the difference of clarity between ship data (left) and satellite data (right).

The image above shows the difference between the shape of the seafloor on the western flank of the Batavia Knoll, located in the southern portion of the MH370 search area, estimated from satellite data (left) and collected by Australia's former Marine National Facility vessel, the RV Southern Surveyor in 2011 (right).

Discover more

New Zealand

Climate change will raise South Canty drought risk

25 Jun 06:00 PM
Energy

Colour them green - companies that give a damn

12 Jun 05:00 PM
Opinion

Lucy Lawless: It's a tricky world but good things are happening

12 Jun 04:15 PM
World

Sites contend for World Heritage status

16 Jun 06:00 AM

Unfortunately such detailed imagery is only available for roughly less than 10 per cent of the global seafloor.

Australia's (now retired) Marine National Facility Vessel, the RV Southern Surveyor.

To obtain even higher resolution data, scanning equipment can be towed at depth behind a ship or mounted on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The closer the equipment is to the seafloor, the better it is able to resolve smaller features and more subtle detail.

What the maps show about the planet

Detailed maps of the seafloor are a powerful tool for scientists to investigate how and why the tapestry of underwater features are formed.

Ocean basins are created by motions of the tectonic plates over 10s and 100s of millions of years. When continents break apart, the story of their separation is recorded in the ocean floor that forms between them.

The eastern Indian Ocean formed as India and Australia separated around 100 million years ago, as part of the breakup of the southern supercontinent Gondwana. The seafloor that formed during this separation records details of the process, including many plateaus and linear features.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Map of the southeast Indian Ocean, including many plateaus, ridges, valleys, and relatively flat abyssal plains. Image / J. Whittaker

The black box in the image above shows the search area for flight MH370. The two plateaus in the search area, the northern Zenith Plateau and the southern Batavia Knoll, are approximately half the size of Tasmania.

But from satellite data alone, we cannot determine what formed these features. Are they the products of massive ancient volcanic eruptions? Or relatively small pieces of India left behind as India moved toward Eurasia?

These questions can only be answered by travelling to these regions on scientific research vessels that can map and sample the oceans in much greater detail.

Rocks from the deep

In 2011, we recovered the first ever seafloor samples from the Batavia Knoll. We wanted to know if the knoll was a piece of India left behind about 100 million years ago or if it formed from massive volcanic eruptions.

The samples we recovered were continental type rocks (erupted and oceanic rocks differ significantly in composition) which indicated that this piece had indeed rifted from India.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Zenith Plateau still remains unsampled.

Nearby, there are other clues revealing the path that India took as it and Australia separated. Distinct curved lines to the left of the Zenith Plateau - labelled "Fracture zone bends" in the image above - record a dramatic change in the direction of India as it and Australia moved further apart 100 to 90 million years ago.

Why is this sort of information important? Because it helps build tectonic models of continental motions and formation of the continental shelves and deep ocean basins through time.

These models aid in understanding how Earth's geography and climate has evolved over geological timescales, helping us to understand the planet's habitability and predict future scenarios.

They also help us find new natural resources and fundamentally understand the dynamics of our planet.

The Conversation
The Conversation

Joanne Whittaker currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She has received ship time on Australia's Marine National Facility and funding from Statoil.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Simon Williams receives funding from the ARC, and has in the past been awarded ship time on Australia's Marin National Facility.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Russia, 296 shot down

28 May 07:27 AM
World

‘No sign of respite’: Climate report warns of economic, environmental impact

28 May 06:48 AM
World

'Very dangerous': North Korea's strong rebuke of US defence plan

28 May 05:16 AM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Russia, 296 shot down

Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Russia, 296 shot down

28 May 07:27 AM

Of those, officials say 42 drones were shot down over the Moscow region.

‘No sign of respite’: Climate report warns of economic, environmental impact

‘No sign of respite’: Climate report warns of economic, environmental impact

28 May 06:48 AM
'Very dangerous': North Korea's strong rebuke of US defence plan

'Very dangerous': North Korea's strong rebuke of US defence plan

28 May 05:16 AM
Premium
How a day of football celebrations turned to chaos in Liverpool

How a day of football celebrations turned to chaos in Liverpool

28 May 05:00 AM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP