WELLINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The most detailed seafloor mapping of a coastal region off New Zealand has been completed in Marlborough in New Zealand's South Island, scientists said on Friday.
It has produced navigational charts that have not been updated since the 1940s, and has even found previously undiscovered boats and shipwrecks.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)'s Ikatere was one of two vessels that spent 280 days out on the water of Queen Charlotte Sound and the Tory Channel to create what is being called the best view of any seabed in New Zealand.
Helen Neil, NIWA's general manager of operations, said it combines the safety of navigation with habitat mapping, down to 400 meters at its deepest point.
"We've found sediment waves, which has sand dunes the size you see in the Sahara, just sitting under the water in Cook Strait," she said.
Data manager Kevin McKay said soundwaves from multibeam echo sounders are reflected off the seafloor, enabling surveyors to map the habitat in detail.
The mapping can also see damage caused by scallop dredging, and scars on the seabed from ships dropping anchor, NIWA scientists said.
