Maps of seabed landscapes

Forskning.no have published an article on how advanced measuring instruments on board the research vessel “Helmer Hanssen” make it possible to create topographical maps of the seabed.

Matthias Forwick at the Department of Geology at the University of Tromsø was earlier this summer on expeditions with the research vessel “Helmer Hanssen“ in Kongsfjorden outside Ny-Ålesund, west of Spitsbergen.

This bay is among several fjords on Svalbard where geologists have examined the seabed. The goal is to understand how glaciers have behaved in the past.

Here, “Helmer Hanssen” plays a key role because of the ship’s many modern necessary instruments. Among other intruments, Geologists use a multibeam installed to the hull. The echo sounder has over 400 rays which move in a fan shape across the ship’s direction of travel.

Read the full article on forskning.no (in Norwegian)