Education

The Texas-Louisiana Continental Shelf

Bathymetry for Education, Research, Engineering, Decision-making

An education initiative of Texas Sea Grant

THE NEED: Continental shelves of the world are, on the whole, poorly mapped.  Even on the Continental Shelf of Texas and Louisiana, one of the most intensely utilized shelf areas in the world, the best bathymetric maps which could be produced with available sounding data do not exist or are not generally available.  Detailed knowledge of the Continental Shelf, its topography, its geography, and its resources is not generally available in primary and secondary education and does not appear in science and geography books. 

THE OBJECTIVE: This project will produce, for the first time, detailed, easily readable bathymetric maps of the Texas- Louisiana Continental Shelf and upper Continental Slope, including bays and estuaries and the shoreline.  We are proposing not only to generate and widely distribute such bathymetry, but to create materials correlated to the state science and social studies standards of Texas and Louisiana that focus on the use, interpretation, and application of bathymetric maps.

THE BENEFIT: Bathymetry is valuable for research, ocean engineering and construction, coastal zone planning, environmental decision-making, forecast of storm impacts, monitoring transport/ deposition of toxic wastes, and fishing/ regulation of fishing.  Screen imagery and hallway posters of bathymetry connect with the public and have great educational value.  Better descriptions of bathymetric features will advance understanding of the geological history and physical geography.

Educators: for curriculum materials

For further explanation of bathymetric mapping