Image: © GEBCO
The International Bathymetic Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) is the authoritative map of the Southern Ocean. It is based on billions of soundings contributed by organisations across the globe.
The bathymetry of the Southern Ocean is of great importance for the modelling and understanding of ocean gateways and barriers, the nature of the thermohaline circulation with Antarctic bottom water formation, and the relevance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current for Antarcticas glaciation. The sea floor topography controls ocean circulation and ocean mixing - and has strong influence on global climate.
Version 2 of the IBCSO Grid was released in 2022 and is available to download from PANGAEA's web site. It has a resolution of 500 m × 500 m in a Polar Stereographic projection (EPSG: 9354). The total data coverage of the seafloor is 23.79% with a multibeam-only data coverage of 22.32%. The remaining 1.47% include singlebeam and other data.
Find out more from the release paper: Dorschel, B., Hehemann, L., Viquerat, S. et al. The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Version 2. Sci Data 9, 275 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01366-7.
IBCSO is a regional mapping initiative of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). It is closely associated with and supported by the Nippon Foundation – GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project.