This is the yearly joint Geological Associations lecture of the Irish Geological Association, Cork Geological Association and Galway Geological Association.​

ABSTRACT

We will begin by looking at INFOMAR, the successor to the Irish National Seabed Survey, and the importance of seabed mapping for an island nation, before investigating a variety of seafloor features and shipwrecks from around the Irish coast. We’ll then look at the seafloor from a global perspective, focusing on the work of GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) and their collaborative project with the Nippon Foundation to produce, by 2030, the first full bathymetry map of the ocean seafloor (Seabed2030). We’ll finish with a look at a major data contributor to Seabed2030, the Five Deeps Expedition. This took place in 2019 and involved crewed descents via submarine to the deepest points of the world’s five oceans.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Aileen Bohan obtained her undergraduate degree from Trinity College, Dublin and then obtained a Masters in Exploration Field Geology from University College, Cork. Aileen joined the Geological Survey of Ireland's INFOMAR team in 2014 as part of the Marine and Coastal Unit. She has taken part in many international research cruises. In 2017, she won a scholarship to attend a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry at the University of New Hampshire (USA) as part of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) training programme. Aileen then joined the GEBCO Alumni, being on the winning team for the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, where she assisted in developing autonomous mapping solutions for the deep ocean. She has remained involved in GEBCO and is currently Chair-Elect of GEBCO's Sub-Committee on Regional Undersea Mapping.

More information here.