Scientists have revealed how much of the vast deep ocean floor humankind has observed, and it’s a staggeringly small amount.
According to a new study published May 7 in the journal Science Advances, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor (anything below 656 feet, or 200 meters) has been explored — despite it covering about two-thirds of Earth’s surface. This area is roughly equivalent to the size of Rhode Island.
“There is so much of our ocean that remains a mystery,” Ian Miller, chief science and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society, which contributed to the study’s funding, said in a statement. Miller was not himself an author of the study.
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