Bathymetric imaging

Digital topography has, for some years, been formatted and processed into shaded relief images for specific studies involving land use and thermal properties. Application to bathymetry is a new and seemingly fruitful extension of these techniques. Digital terrain models of the earth - combining subaerial topography with an extensive collection of bathymetric soundings - have been processed to yield shaded relief images. These images provide new and exciting insights into submarine geomorphology and portray many aspects of plate tectonic physiography in a manner not previously possible.