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A digital total sediment thickness database for the world’s oceans and marginal seas is being compiled by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Marine Geology & Geophysics Division. The data are gridded with a spacing of 5 arc-minutes by 5 arc-minutes. Sediment thickness data were compiled from three principal sources: isopach maps, ocean drilling results, both ODP and DSDP, and seismic reflection profiles archived at NGDC.
The distribution of sediments in the oceans is controlled by 5 primary factors.
Age of the underlying crust
Tectonic history of the ocean crust
Structural trends in basement
Nature and location of sediment sources
The nature of the sedimentary processes delivering sediments to depocenters.
The data values are in meters and represent the depth to the acoustic basement. It should be noted that the acoustic basement may not actually represent the base of the sediments. These data are intended to provide minimum value for the thickness of the sediment in a particular geographic region.
