Seabed Morphology Features Glossary for Marine Geoscientists

Version 2 of a seabed morphology glossary updates a 2016 classification scheme to provide marine scientists with an accurate way to characterise the seabed. Each glossary entry includes a feature definition and a representative schematic diagram to support clear and consistent classification. The glossary results from a collaboration between marine mapping programmes in Norway, Ireland, the UK, and Australia.

Use Cases

• Standardising seabed characterisation based on the provided feature definitions and diagrams.
• Training machine learning models for automated seabed feature identification based on the glossary's structured terminology.
• Supporting consistent data annotation across international marine mapping projects based on the collaborative classification scheme.
• Enhancing geological and habitat mapping by providing a minimised set of unambiguous morphology terms.

Strengths

• Glossary entries include both a feature definition and a schematic diagram for clarity.
• Feature terms are drawn from the IHO guide for undersea feature names and modified by an international collaboration.
• The scheme aims to minimise duplication and ambiguity in seabed morphology terminology.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Terms and definitions primarily drawn from the IHO guide for undersea feature names, modified and augmented.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 03:15:55.570343; freshness should be verified.