According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), less than 10 % of the global ocean floor is mapped using modern sonar technology. If we put that into dry-land terms, for those of us who inhabit the (small) portion of the Earth that sits above the great seas, it would be as if only about 26,000 square miles of Texas was actually mapped with modern technology.
The other 90-plus % — roughly 243,000 square miles — would be terra incognita, a mysterious and unknown terrain for anyone attempting to navigate their way through the state.
This unmapped portion of the subsea Earth might not seem like a big deal to the average human, who will likely rarely ever travel more than a quarter-mile from the edge of a landmass or deeper than 100 feet below the surface of the ocean. Both numbers represent minuscule and insignificant excursions into the vast realm of the Earth’s undersea world.
However, for some — such as the U.S. Navy — having a deeper understanding and knowledge of the geographic features that dominate the world’s ocean floors is critical. Otherwise, accidents are more likely to happen, such as the one that befell the USS San Francisco in January of 2005. The San Francisco, a nuclear-powered submarine, collided with an uncharted undersea mountain, which resulted in the death of a sailor aboard and nearly sank the vessel.
