Recent and future trends in marine geomorphometry

For the 71% of our planet that lies beneath the ocean, the use of spatial analytical techniques for explaining and classifying underwater topography has become increasingly widespread in recent years. Marine acoustic technologies have now developed to a point where it is possible to capture underwater landscapes and their habitats at multiple scales, whereas other technologies are being increasingly adopted where acoustic data are lacking or hard to obtain. Processing techniques for handling these data have also developed significantly and many analytical techniques have been adopted from terrestrial studies. Technologically speaking, we have now entered the age where we can virtually drain the water from the oceans and make the seafloor “visible” as an extension of land. One of the major challenges remaining is acquiring bathymetry data across the entire ocean floor, not just in economically developed areas or those with industrial interests in the seabed. Moving forward into the next decade, we hope that new opportunities for seabed mapping can challenge some of the current paradigms. This will allow marine geomorphometry not only to play catch up with its terrestrial counterpart, but perhaps to begin treading its own path as a sub-discipline.