This effort has created an enormous amount of interest world wide as previously classified data are used to support new science. Gravity over the oceans is closely correlated with seafloor relief. A map of the global seafloor is coming from NGDC in the fall of 1996.
Depth is only one way of characterizing the ocean floor.
The National Geophysical Data Center offers a vast collection of data and images from the seafloor , including data from the international Ocean Drilling Program. The ocean floor is a natural record of Earth's past and present systems and environment, yielding valuable information for both scientific and commercial uses. Many of NGDC's seafloor inventories and databases are fully searchable on-line .