Franktalk Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 I was looking up some locations of cities on Google maps in Syria and I happen to check out the bottom of the Mediterranean. Then I proceeded looking out into the Atlantic from Gibraltar. I saw what appear as small valleys on the ocean floor all pointing to Gibraltar. Some extending for a thousand miles and over ridges. Are these real? The only thing I could imagine is that the maps are a collection of many ships and their soundings and it is a data error and the valleys don't exist. Does anyone know what these lines (valleys) come from? Any information would be appreciated.
Calm Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 I assume you are talking about the Azores-Gibraltar Fracture Zone.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fracture_zone
Franktalk Posted July 2, 2012 Author Posted July 2, 2012 I don't think so. Gibraltar is at the hub of a perfect fan stretching for a thousand miles or so. Go to Google and look at the map of Gibraltar at a point where the scale is 20 miles. You will see what I am talking about. Normally a fracture zone has perpendicular cracks as well. I ask this because I just need to know if I can trust the sea floor maps on Google?
Calm Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 The things that look like a chain has been resting on the floor and then pulled up but left an light imprint behind?
Buzzard Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 The things that look like a chain has been resting on the floor and then pulled up but left an light imprint behind?The sea floor has been accurately mapped for decades now. Just because it looks funny does not mean it isn't there.
Freedom Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 They look like natural formations caused by water flow in and out of the sea. Am I missing something?
cacheman Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 I don't think so. Gibraltar is at the hub of a perfect fan stretching for a thousand miles or so. Go to Google and look at the map of Gibraltar at a point where the scale is 20 miles. You will see what I am talking about. Normally a fracture zone has perpendicular cracks as well. I ask this because I just need to know if I can trust the sea floor maps on Google?They look like they might be shipping routes. If I'm looking at the right thing, then I believe they are route lines superimposed on the map, not actual sea floor images.
Calm Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 They look like they might be shipping routes. If I'm looking at the right thing, then I believe they are route lines superimposed on the map, not actual sea floor images.I saw those too and it is not what I was talking about. To me, they look like natural formations.
Ron Beron Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 I was looking up some locations of cities on Google maps in Syria and I happen to check out the bottom of the Mediterranean. Then I proceeded looking out into the Atlantic from Gibraltar. I saw what appear as small valleys on the ocean floor all pointing to Gibraltar. Some extending for a thousand miles and over ridges. Are these real? The only thing I could imagine is that the maps are a collection of many ships and their soundings and it is a data error and the valleys don't exist. Does anyone know what these lines (valleys) come from? Any information would be appreciated.At one point the Straits of Gibraltar were closed and the Mediterranean area was dry. With the rising of the sea the straits were breached and the Mediterranean was flooded causing the valleys. The same is found in the Black Sea region.
Franktalk Posted July 3, 2012 Author Posted July 3, 2012 Thanks everyone for looking. What got me curious was that they extend so far and travel over some ridges. Just did not seem to natural. More like errors in the bottom mapping.Added: I found this, maybe this is the explanation."The Sun on Friday published pictures from Google Earth showing what resembles a city street grid on the ocean floor west of Morocco, in an area known as the Madeira Abyssal plane, about 960 km off the African coast.But Google says the undersea grid lines spotted while browsing Google Earth's ocean maps by an aeronautical engineer from Chester in northwestern England, Bernie Bamford, are data artifacts rather than sunken streets."What users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process," a Google spokesman said. "Bathymetric (or sea-floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. The fact that there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world's oceans."http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_g/google/20090223_google_refutes.htmlSo I wonder just how much we can trust what we see?
Stargazer Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Apparently, when the then-dry Mediterranean basin was refilled from the Atlantic (which only took up to 2 years to finish), there was a lot of erosion of the sea floor at the Camarinal Sill. It seems reasonable that the fan-shaped array of valleys would be expected as a result of such an event.Another thing I thought interesting is that there is a periodic change in outlow and inflow that causes subsurface waves of different kinds of water. These waves sometimes cause surface effects that resemble moire patterns. I wonder if this might be part of what is going on, too.Check the Mediterranean seafloor map at: http://www.maps.com/map.aspx?pid=16013You can click on the map and zoom in to the level of detail you like. Edited July 3, 2012 by Stargazer 1
thesometimesaint Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Franktalk:Artifacts of data collection are pretty common, and don't mean that much. The human "face" on Mars is just an artifact of light angles hitting a natural occurring mountain, and mans' thought processes going to completion. It is not the remains of man made objects on Mars. Edited July 3, 2012 by thesometimesaint
CASteinman Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 I don't think so. Gibraltar is at the hub of a perfect fan stretching for a thousand miles or so. Go to Google and look at the map of Gibraltar at a point where the scale is 20 miles. You will see what I am talking about. Normally a fracture zone has perpendicular cracks as well. I ask this because I just need to know if I can trust the sea floor maps on Google?Are you looking at the Map or the Satellite image? If you are looking at the map its Shipping Routes on the Surface of the Water.
Franktalk Posted July 4, 2012 Author Posted July 4, 2012 Are you looking at the Map or the Satellite image? If you are looking at the map its Shipping Routes on the Surface of the Water.Thank you for pointing out the obvious.
CASteinman Posted July 4, 2012 Posted July 4, 2012 Thank you for pointing out the obvious.It wasn't obvious to me what you were talking about. Sorry. whew.
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