Summary:
- Oceans are deep, dark, and frigid.
- All but the very top surface is under extraordinarily high pressure.
- Most oceanic research requires accessing greater depths.
- Rovers, like the one pictured above, allow scientists to remotely visit places that are too inhospitable for human life.
- The human operated vehicle, Alvin can dive up to 4,500 meters beneath the ocean surface and has made more than 5,000 dives since 1964.
- Scientists use sound waves to make bathymetric maps of water bodies.