An international team of scientists and cartographers has released the most detailed map ever of the
seafloor of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. It covers 48 million km² (19 million miles²) and
includes the deepest spot yet found in the region.
Despite intense efforts, beginning with the voyage of HMS Challenger in 1873, the seafloor of the world's
oceans still remains largely a mystery. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), only 10 percent of the bottom of the ocean has been mapped using modern sonar methods and
the ocean maps that one sees in various places hide the fact that these are based on very incomplete
, low-resolution data.