Depth Of Ocean: Most of the earth is surrounded by oceans and seas. There is only water on about 71 percent of the earth. International trade is done on a very large scale through the sea. Big ships move in the sea. In such a situation, it is also very important to know the depth of the sea. By the way, the seas are very deep in the middle. But, the depth of the sea also varies at different places. It is very deep at some places and at other places it is so shallow that people take bath there. Shallow depth can be easily detected, but how is it measured at greater depth? Let’s know.
depth was measured by cable
In ancient times, cables were used to measure the depth at one place in the sea. The vessel used to stop and it was suspended to the sea floor by tying a load with a rope or cable. Then later it was taken out to find out the depth of the sea. It was a slow and boring job. Also it was not accurate.
depth is measured with a fadometer
Today man has such tools which help him to know the depth of the sea and get more and more information about its bottom. The instrument which is used to measure the depth of the sea is called Fathometer. It is applied on ships. Let us understand how the depth is known through this.
how does it work
According to the Discoveryworld website, it generates sound waves of frequency more than 20,000 MHz. These are called ultrasonic waves. Human beings cannot hear these waves with their ears. These waves are projected towards the bottom of the ocean. When these waves collide with the sea and return after being reflected, they are caught with the help of a receiver. The total time taken by the waves to travel from the surface to the ocean floor and back is measured.
Pacific Ocean is the deepest
Then multiplying half of its time with the velocity of sound in the sea water, the depth of the sea at that place is known. In this way the depth of sea can be measured at any place. This technique is also known as ‘Echo Sounding’ or ‘Echo Ranging’. It is from this technique that it has come to know that the Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean. The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4,282 meters.
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