How Is The Depth Of The Sea Measured?

Today, the man has obtained a lot of information about the seas. Yet he is unknown to many mysteries of the sea. For example, still he does not know about the time of the origin of seas. However, it is certain that at the beginning of the creation there were no seas. Today innumerable instruments have been developed by man. These instruments are used by man to go deep into the seas and get more knowledge about their bottoms.

Let us study, how the depth of the sea is measured with the help of instruments?

The depth of the sea is measured with the help of equipment, which is known as ‘fathometer’. It is fitted in a ship, which produces the sound waves with frequencies more than 20,000 hertz. These sound waves are known as ultrasonic waves. As these waves are transmitted inside the seas therefore we can not hear the sound of these waves. These waves are reflected back by the bottom of the sea. The total time taken by these reflected waves to travel from the sea surface to the bottom and then back to the sea surface is measured. To measure the depth of the sea at the point of the experiment, multiply the half of the time taken by the velocity of sound in sea water. Hence at any point we can measure the depth of the sea. The depths of different seas and the deepest spots in each of the seas have been measured by this method. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4282 meters and it is the deepest ocean. Its deepest spot is located near Guam. It is an island in the Pacific Ocean and has a depth of 10,668 meters. The average depth of Indian Ocean is 3963 meters and it takes up the second place after the Pacific Ocean.