Seabed Morphology Features Glossary from International Marine Mapping Programs

Version 2 of a seabed morphology glossary updates a 2016 classification scheme to provide marine scientists with accurate and consistent terminology. The glossary includes feature definitions and schematic diagrams, drawing from the IHO guide and augmented by an international collaboration. It was developed by marine geoscientists from mapping programs in Norway, Ireland, the UK, and Australia.

Use Cases

• Standardizing seabed feature descriptions in research based on the provided glossary definitions.
• Training machine learning models for automated seabed classification based on the defined morphology features.
• Supporting consistent cartographic labeling in marine maps based on the established terminology.
• Enhancing data interoperability between different marine mapping programs using the shared classification scheme.

Strengths

• Glossary is the result of an international collaboration between marine mapping programs in four countries.
• Feature definitions are drawn from the authoritative IHO guide and modified to minimize ambiguity.
• Each glossary entry includes a representative schematic diagram to support clear interpretation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The data is presented as an HTML report, which may require parsing to extract structured glossary entries.

Provenance

Source

Collaboration between marine geoscientists from MAREANO (Norway), INFOMAR (Ireland), MAREMAP (UK), and Geoscience Australia (MIM-GA).

Collection Method

Compilation and modification of terms from the IHO guide for undersea feature names, augmented with additional terms.

Time Range

Version 2 published in 2020, updating a 2016 scheme.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 12:55:34.473544; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global in scope, intended for diverse seabed morphologies.