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Geological Survey of Canada


















Multibeam bathymetry

The potential of multibeam bathymetry as a mapping tool was instantly apparent to many of us at GSC the moment Bob Courtney turned the Canadian Hydrographic Survey's EM-100 data from offshore Halifax into imagery. The map shows areas that I and my colleagues have mapped, and areas for which I have had access to data collected by other organizations.


  1. Confederation Bridge. A landscape submerged by rising sea levels. The image shows former rivers and lakes.
  2. East Point, PEI A large shoal located at the eastern tip of Prince Edward Island. The sand contained in the shoal was eroded from the north coast of the island.
  3. CheticampLarge sand waves on the sea floor testify to strong currents in this area.
  4. Baie des ChaleursThe sea floor is imprinted with furrows that may have been formed by a late readvance of glaciers into the bay.
  5. New WaterfordThe image shows river valleys, formed when sea level was lower than now. They are incised into bedded Carboniferous sediments. Image courtesy of R.C. Courtney.
  6. Chedabucto Bay Evidence of lowered sea levels in Chedabucto Bay. The large shoal at the east of the image may be a drowned coastal foreland, composed of gravel beach ridges.
  7. Bonne Bay A large arcuate submarine moraine lies at the mouth of this Newfoundland fiord. It was formed by an ice lobe ice emanating from the interior of the island.
  8. Bay of Islands A Newfoundland fiord with complex fluid escape features on the sea floor. The imprint of human activities includes dredgte spoil, a submarine slide, a shipwreck, and areas of bark near the paper plant.
  9. Port au Port Peninsula
  10. St. George's Bay Complex marine geology, including a barrier platform submarine fans, and gas-escape features.
  11. La Poile Bay -Burgeo
  12. White Bear Bay area Submarine moraines lie at the mouths of fiords on Newfoundland's south coast. Close inspection of the image reveals pock marks on the sea floor.
  13. Facheux Bay area The submarine moraine at the mouth of this fiord formed about 14 000 years ago.
  14. Bay d'Espoir The deepest water on the inner shelf occurs at the mouth of this fiord. Submerged early Holocene deltas occur at the head of the fiord.
  15. Argentia area. The coverage extends from Argentia Harbour to the deep waters of Placentia Bay