A new version of the bathymetric map of the Arctic Ocean has been published

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) version 5.0, the only international bathymetric chart that provides a detailed and accurate overview of the depths and seabed of the Arctic Ocean, has been officially released. The new version features an exceptional resolution of 100 x 100 metres (four times higher than IBCAO 4.0) and covers more than 25% of the entire Arctic Ocean, an increase of about 1.4 million square kilometres compared to the previously mapped area. The new map thus represents a significant improvement in the quality and quantity of data available to the international scientific community.

Michele Rebesco, researcher in the Geophysics Department of the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and Daniela Accettella, technologist at the Naval Infrastructure Management Centre of the OGS, also contributed to the new map.

Launched in Russia in 1997, the IBCAO project has been complemented since 2017 by the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO-Seabed 2030 initiative, whose common goal is to achieve complete mapping of the global seabed by 2030.