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Total Sediment Thickness for the World's Oceans and Marginal Seas

The Total Sediment Thickness database for the World's Oceans and Marginal Seas is a compilation of sediment-thickness data from previously published isopach maps, ocean drilling results from the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), and variety of seismic data.

About Version 3

The global 5‐arc‐minute total sediment thickness grid, GlobSed, incorporates data and several regional oceanic sediment thickness maps for:

  • NE Atlantic (Funck et al., 2017; Hopper et al., 2014)
  • Mediterranean (Molinari & Morelli, 2011)
  • Arctic (Petrov et al., 2016)
  • Weddell Sea (Huang et al., 2014)
  • Ross Sea, Amundsen Sea, and Bellingshausen Sea sectors off West Antarctica (Lindeque et al., 2016; Wobbe et al., 2014). 

This version also includes updates in the White Sea region based on the Russian Geological Research Institute (VSEGEI) map of Orlov and Fedorov (2001). GlobSed covers a larger area than NCEI’s previous global grids (Divins, 2003; Whittaker et al. 2013), and the new updates results in a 29.7% increase in estimated total oceanic sediment volume.

Data Access

Download V3 Data

Related Data

Wobbe, F et al. (2014): Total sediment thickness grid of the Southern Pacific Ocean off West Antarctica, links to NetCDF files. doi: 10.1594/PANGAEA.835589

Citation

Straume, E.O., Gaina, C., Medvedev, S., Hochmuth, K., Gohl, K., Whittaker, J. M., et al. (2019). GlobSed: Updated total sediment thickness in the world's oceans. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20. DOI: 10.1029/2018GC008115

References

  • Divins, D. (2003). Total sediment thickness of the world's oceans and marginal seas. Boulder, CO: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center.
  • Funck, T., Geissler, W. H., Kimbell, G. S., Gradmann, S., Erlendsson, Ö., McDermott, K., & Petersen, U. K. (2017). Moho and basement depth in the NE Atlantic Ocean based on seismic refraction data and receiver functions. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 447(1), 207–231. doi: 10.1144/SP447.1
  • Hopper, J. R., Funck, T., Stoker, T., Arting, U., Peron‐Pinvidic, G., Doornenbal, J. C., & Gaina, C. (2014). Tectonostratigraphic atlas of the north‐east Atlantic region. 340 pp., GEUS, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Huang, X., Gohl, K., & Jokat, W. (2014). Variability in Cenozoic sedimentation and paleo‐water depths of the Weddell Sea basin related to pre‐glacial and glacial conditions of Antarctica. Global and Planetary Change, 118, 25–41. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.03.010
  • Lindeque, A., Gohl, K., Wobbe, F., & Uenzelmann‐Neben, G. (2016). Preglacial to glacial sediment thickness grids for the Southern Pacific Margin of West Antarctica. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 17, 4276–4285. doi: 10.1002/2016GC006401
  • Molinari, I., & Morelli, A. (2011). EPcrust: A reference crustal model for the European Plate. Geophysical Journal International, 185(1), 352–364. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.04940.x
  • Petrov, O., Morozov, A., Shokalsky, S., Kashubin, S., Artemieva, I. M., Sobolev, N., et al. (2016). Crustal structure and tectonic model of the Arctic region. Earth‐Science Reviews, 154, 29–71. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.11.013
  • Whittaker, J. M., Goncharov, A., Williams, S. E., Müller, R. D., & Leitchenkov, G. (2013). Global sediment thickness data set updated for the Australian‐Antarctic Southern Ocean. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 14, 3297–3305. doi: 10.1002/ggge.20181
  • Wobbe, F., Lindeque, A., & Gohl, K. (2014). Anomalous South Pacific lithosphere dynamics derived from new total sediment thickness estimates off the West Antarctic margin. Global and Planetary Change, 123, 139–149. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.09.006
  • Orlov, V. P. and Fedorov, D. L. (2001). Hypsometric Map of the Crystalline Basement Surface in the Central and Northern East European Platform on a Scale 1: 2500000. (VSEGEI, St. Petersburg, 2001) [in Russian].

About Version 2

NCEI's global ocean sediment thickness grid (Divins, 2003) was updated for the Australian-Antarctic region (60°-155°E, 30°-70°S). Seismic reflection and refraction data were used to add detail to the conjugate Australian and Antarctic margins and intervening ocean floor where regional sediment thickness patterns were previously poorly known.

On the margins, sediment thickness estimates were computed from velocity-depth functions from sonobuoy/refraction velocity solutions ground-truthed against seismic reflection data. For the Southeast Indian Ridge abyssal plain, sediment thickness contours from Géli et al. (2007) were used.

The regional sediment thickness grid was combined with NCEI's original ocean sediment thickness grid (Divins, 2003) to create an updated global grid of ocean sediment thickness. Even using the minimum estimates, sediment accumulations on the extended Australian and Antarctic continental margins are 2km thicker across large regions and up to 9km thicker in the Ceduna Basin compared to NCEI's original sediment thickness grid (Divins, 2003), which has been deprecated but is still available.

Data Access

Citation

Géli, L., Cochran, J., Lee, T., Francheteau, J., Labails, C., Fouchet, C., and Christie, D., 2007, Thermal regime of the Southeast Indian Ridge between 88°E and 140°E: Remarks on the subsidence of the ridge flanks: J. Geophys. Res., v. 112, no. B10, p. B10101.

References

  • Divins, D.L., Total Sediment Thickness of the World's Oceans & Marginal Seas, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, 2003.
  • Géli, L., Cochran, J., Lee, T., Francheteau, J., Labails, C., Fouchet, C., and Christie, D., 2007, Thermal regime of the Southeast Indian Ridge between 88°E and 140°E: Remarks on the subsidence of the ridge flanks: J. Geophys. Res., v. 112, no. B10, p. B10101.

About Version 1

The data were gridded with a grid spacing of 5 arc-minutes by 5 arc-minutes. Sediment-thickness data were compiled from three principle sources: 

  • Previously published isopach maps including Ludwig and Houtz [1979], Matthias et al. [1988], Divins and Rabinowitz [1990], Hayes and LaBrecque [1991], and Divins [2003]
  • Ocean drilling results, both from the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)
  • Seismic reflection profiles archived here as well as seismic data and isopach maps available as part of the IOC's International Geological-Geophysical Atlas of the Pacific Ocean [Udinstev, 2003].

Data Access

* ASCII Longitude, Latitude, Thickness (XYZ) file with "NaN" in the Thickness column where there is no sediment thickness value.

The "no NaNs" file includes only records with sediment thickness values.

Sediment thickness values represent an average over each 5-minute grid cell and are located at the center of each cell. The ASCII files contain the position of the center of each cell.

Citation

Divins, D.L., Total Sediment Thickness of the World's Oceans & Marginal Seas, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, 2003.

References

  • Divins, D.L., Thickness of Sedimentary Cover in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, in International Geological-Geophysical Atlas of the Pacific Ocean, edited by G.B. Udintsev, pp. 120, 126-127, 130, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Moscow-Saint Petersburg, 2003.
  • Divins, D.L., and P.D. Rabinowitz, Thickness of Sedimentary Cover for the South Atlantic, in International Geological-Geophysical Atlas of the Atlantic Ocean, edited by G.B. Udintsev, pp. 126-127, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Moscow, 1990.
  • Hayes, D.E., and J.L. LaBrecque, Sediment Isopachs: Circum-Antarctic to 30S, in Marine Geological and Geophysical Atlas of the Circum-Antarctic to 30S, edited by D.E. Hayes, pp. 29-33, American Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C., 1991.
  • Ludwig, W.J., and R.E. Houtz, Isopach Map of the Sediments in the Pacific Ocean Basin, color map with text, Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Tulsa, OK., 1979.
  • Matthias, P.K., P.D. Rabinowitz, and N. Dipiazza, Sediment Thickness map of the Indian Ocean, Map 505, Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Tulsa, OK., 1988.
  • Smith, W.H.F., and P. Wessel, Gridding with Continuous Curvature Splines in Tension, Geophysics, 55, 1990.
  • Tucholke, B.E., and E. Uchupi, Thickness of Sedimentary Cover for the North Atlantic, in International Geological-Geophysical Atlas of the Atlantic Ocean, edited by G.B. Udintsev, pp. 122-125, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Moscow, 1990.
  • Udinstev, G.B. (editor), International Geological-Geophysical Atlas of the Pacific Ocean, 192 p., Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Moscow-Saint Petersburg, 2003.