Google Map. Are these man made objects??

It's formed from sonar dredging done by a ship.
It's in a more or less grid shape due to the search pattern run by the ship dragging the buoy.

reply to post by RuneSpider
Those lines are very wide, I am surprised that there is some equipment that can move the earth on the ocean floor with sound waves. Impressive.

Have you worked with this sort of equipment?

I googled sonar dredging.

Couldn't find it used together to indicate a process, just links where the words were used separately, as in 'sonar scans used to check dredging results'.

Originally posted by tribewilder
reply to post by this_is_who_we_are

 

Just click on the 9th button from the left (next to the envelope) and put in the url there.

The ninth button from the left is the "member tools" button. It opens a pull down menu. I click on "My Pictures", then "Upload Photos". After I've uploaded a photo I can click on it and choose from the three options at the bottom of the photo, the third being "Embed on ATS". I copy the imbed code and paste it into my post. What should I do differently to get the slider in the photo. I'm still confused...

MOD please delete
tried testing embedding photos with slider scroll; didn't work.



[edit on 4/7/2010 by this_is_who_we_are]

MOD please delete
tried testing embedding photos with slider scroll; didn't work.

[edit on 4/7/2010 by this_is_who_we_are]

[edit on 4/7/2010 by this_is_who_we_are]

Originally posted by RuneSpider
It's formed from sonar dredging done by a ship.
It's in a more or less grid shape due to the search pattern run by the ship dragging the buoy.

Hi RuneSpider-

So you saying that the area's that look like they could have some sort of structures on them are due to a ship using sonar? May I ask, why it only shows up in these small area's of water? Do these ships only map out a small part of the ocean? Also if they do only map a small part of the ocean and it looks that way, why would they use these images if it looks like that. It seems like a waste of time for them to use those images if they are giving false readings wouldn't you agree?

I'm sorry, I meant to say the ships drag the buoy behind them, not dredging. My fingers put in the wrong word.

Do these ships only map out a small part of the ocean?

Yep, for various reasons.
I'm familiar with them because I enjoy reading discoveries about shipwrecks, and that's where I initially came across them.
They also use sonar to plot the ocean bottom for possible resources as well as undersea geological features, like hydrothermal vents or ridges.

Also if they do only map a small part of the ocean and it looks that way, why would they use these images if it looks like that. It seems like a waste of time for them to use those images if they are giving false readings wouldn't you agree?

Well, Google gets these images from the US Geological Survey, which includes these because when you account for the trails of the ship itself, it's more detailed than what you'd get from a satillite. At the scale it's taken back to the lab on, you can make out ships and downed airplanes. When incorporated into the much larger map that's not shown at the full resolution the the Geo Survey uses, you get grid like patterns in the sea bed.

As for why they left it in, maybe they figured the only people who'd care about empty stretches of water would be people who are familiar with side scan sonar, dunno.