​GSI's INFOMAR has made Ireland the first country in the world to map its entire seabed. This project is funded by the Dept. of the Environment, Climate and Communications and is managed and run jointly by Geological Survey Ireland and the Marine Institute. The Irish Times this week featured this significant achievement, and  reminds us all how Ireland is often at the cutting edge of research, science and best practice (more on that next week!). As noted on Twitter, "there will be a least one part of the ocean floor that has been as well studied as the surface of Mars."

An understanding of the seabed has many benefits and applications. Making the data freely available to all stakeholders gives Ireland a head start in finding suitable locations for offshore renewable energy, understanding sediment movements for the shipping and fishing industries and for learning more about the potential effects of climate change on our coasts. The current INFOMAR project follows on from Irish National Seabed Survey which started in 2000, managed by the Geological Survey in co-operation with the Marine Institute.

Read the full article here.

Find out more about the Project on the INFOMAR website.

The INFOMAR project is part of the Marine and Coastal Unit in Geological Survey Ireland.