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An updated global bathymetry and topography grid is presented using a spatial sampling interval of 15 arc sec. The bathymetry is produced using a combination of shipboard soundings and depths predicted using satellite altimetry. New data consists of >33.6 million multibeam and singlebeam measurements collated by several institutions, namely, the National Geospatial‐Intelligence Agency, Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology, Geoscience Australia, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. New altimetry data consists of 48, 14, and 12 months of retracked range measurements from Cryosat‐2, SARAL/AltiKa, and Jason‐2, respectively. With respect to SRTM15_PLUS (Olson et al.,), the inclusion of these new data results in a ∼1.4‐km improvement in the minimum wavelength recovered for sea surface free‐air gravity anomalies, a small increase in the accuracy of altimetrically derived predicted depths, and a 1.24% increase, from 9.60% to 10.84%, in the total area of ocean floor that is constrained by shipboard soundings at 15‐arc sec resolution. Bathymetric grid cells constrained by satellite altimetry have estimated uncertainties of ±150 m in the deep oceans and ±180 m between coastlines and the continental rise. Onshore, topography data are sourced from previously published digital elevation models, predominately SRTM‐CGIAR V4.1 between 60°N and 60°S. ArcticDEM is used above 60°N, while Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica is used below 62°S. Auxiliary grids illustrating shipboard data coverage, marine free‐air gravity anomalies, and vertical gradient gradients are also provided in common data formats.

The existing bathymetry map of the Arctic is a compilation of ship soundings and digitized contours. Due to the presence of all‐year sea ice, costly operations and political restrictions, dense and full coverage of the Arctic is not possible, leaving huge gaps between the existing surveys. In this paper, we make use of the existing Arctic bathymetry IBCAOv3 and invert Arctic bathymetry from the recent altimetric gravity model DTU17, whose accuracy is improved significantly with revised data processing strategy. The long and short wavelength components are preserved from IBCAOv3. The band‐pass‐filtering function proposed by Smith and Sandwell (1994, https://doi.org/10.1029/94JB00988) is adapted for the Arctic by reducing the cutoff wavelength. The predicted bathymetry is within 100 m on 85.8% of the grid nodes, when compared to the IBCAOv3. The consistency of the prediction is validated with two independent profiles from Healy cruises conducted in 2016 over the Chukchi Cap. A questionable valley in the IBCAOv3 is detected with gravity and at this spot, bathymetry predicted from gravity is consistent with independent multibeam soundings. The gravity‐inverted bathymetry could be combined with ship soundings for the next generation of Arctic bathymetry map.

SUMMARY Flexure and fracturing of the seafloor on the outer trench wall of subduction zones reflect bending of the lithosphere beyond its elastic limit. To investigate these inelastic processes, we have developed a full nonlinear inversion approach for estimating the bending moment, curvature and outer trench wall fracturing using shipboard bathymetry and satellite altimetry-derived gravity data as constraints. Bending moments and downward forces are imposed along curved trench axes and an iterative method is used to calculate the nonlinear response for 26 sites in the circum-Pacific region having seafloor age ranging from 15 to 148 Ma. We use standard thermal and yield strength envelope models to develop the nonlinear moment versus curvature relationship. Two coefficients of friction of 0.6 and 0.3 are considered and we find that the lower value provides a better overall fit to the data. The main result is that the lithosphere is nearly moment saturated at the trench axis. The effective elastic thickness of the plate on the outer trench slope is at least three times smaller than the elastic thickness of the plate before bending at the outer rise in agreement with previous studies. The average seafloor depth of the unbent plate in these 26 sites matches the Parsons & Sclater depth versus age model beyond 120 Ma. We also use the model to predict the offsets of normal faults on the outer trench walls and compare this with the horst and graben structures observed by multibeam surveys. The model with the lower coefficient of friction fits the fault offset data close to the trench axis. However, the model predicts significant fracturing of the lithosphere between 75 and 150 km away from the trench axis where no fracturing is observed. To reconcile these observations, we impose a thermoelastic pre-stress in the lithosphere prior to subduction. This pre-stress delays the onset of fracturing in better agreement with the data.

International audience; The CNES/ISRO altimetric satellite SARAL/AltiKa was launched in February 2013 and since then has provided useful data for various scientific and operational applications in oceanography, hydrology, cryospheric sciences and geodesy. However, a Reaction Wheel problem forced relaxation of the repeatability constraint on the satellite's orbit, which has been drifting slowly since July 2016. Beyond the expected contributions of this mission and its very good integration into the objectives of the constellation of altimetric satellites, it has become more and more apparent that specific contributions and innovations related to the main specification of SARAL/AltiKa, that is to say the use of the Ka-band, have clearly emerged. The advantages of the Ka-band are in short the reduction of ionosphere effects, the smaller footprint, the better horizontal resolution and the higher vertical resolution. A drawback of the Ka-band is the attenuation due to water/water vapor in case of rain and the resulting loss of data. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the specific advances of the Ka-band in different scientific and technical fields and to show why they are promising for the future and open the way to several missions or mission projects. Although unplanned initially, the fine coverage of the Drifting Phase brings some interesting openings especially for geodesy and hydrology applications.

Ocean islands, seamounts and volcanic ridges are thought to form above mantle plumes. Yet, this mechanism cannot explain many volcanic features on the Pacific Ocean floor and some might instead be caused by cracks in the oceanic crust linked to the reorganization of plate motions. A distinctive bend in the Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic chain has been linked to changes in the direction of motion of the Pacific Plate, movement of the Hawaiian plume, or a combination of both. However, these links are uncertain because there is no independent record that precisely dates tectonic events that affected the Pacific Plate. Here we analyse the geochemical characteristics of lava samples collected from the Musicians Ridges, lines of volcanic seamounts formed close to the Hawaiian-Emperor bend. We find that the geochemical signature of these lavas is unlike typical ocean island basalts and instead resembles mid-ocean ridge basalts. We infer that the seamounts are unrelated to mantle plume activity and instead formed in an extensional setting, due to deformation of the Pacific Plate. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating reveals that the Musicians Ridges formed during two time windows that bracket the time of formation of the Hawaiian-Emperor bend, 53-52 and 48-47 million years ago. We conclude that the Hawaiian-Emperor bend was formed by plate-mantle reorganization, potentially triggered by a series of subduction events at the Pacific Plate margins.

Geodetic slip inversions for three major (M_w > 7) strike-slip earthquakes (1992 Landers, 1999 Hector Mine and 2010 El Mayor–Cucapah) show a 15–60 per cent reduction in slip near the surface (depth < 2 km) relative to the slip at deeper depths (4–6 km). This significant difference between surface coseismic slip and slip at depth has been termed the shallow slip deficit (SSD). The large magnitude of this deficit has been an enigma since it cannot be explained by shallow creep during the interseismic period or by triggered slip from nearby earthquakes. One potential explanation for the SSD is that the previous geodetic inversions lack data coverage close to surface rupture such that the shallow portions of the slip models are poorly resolved and generally underestimated. In this study, we improve the static coseismic slip inversion for these three earthquakes, especially at shallow depths, by: (1) including data capturing the near-fault deformation from optical imagery and SAR azimuth offsets; (2) refining the interferometric synthetic aperture radar processing with non-boxcar phase filtering, model-dependent range corrections, more complete phase unwrapping by SNAPHU (Statistical Non-linear Approach for Phase Unwrapping) assuming a maximum discontinuity and an on-fault correlation mask; (3) using more detailed, geologically constrained fault geometries and (4) incorporating additional campaign global positioning system (GPS) data. The refined slip models result in much smaller SSDs of 3–19 per cent. We suspect that the remaining minor SSD for these earthquakes likely reflects a combination of our elastic model's inability to fully account for near-surface deformation, which will render our estimates of shallow slip minima, and potentially small amounts of interseismic fault creep or triggered slip, which could ‘make up’ a small percentages of the coseismic SSD during the interseismic period. Our results indicate that it is imperative that slip inversions include accurate measurements of near-fault surface deformation to reliably constrain spatial patterns of slip during major strike-slip earthquakes.

Seamounts are active or extinct undersea volcanoes with heights exceeding ~ 100 m. They represent a small but significant fraction of the volcanic extrusive budget for oceanic seafloor and their distribution gives information about spatial and temporal variations in intraplate volcanic activity. In addition, they sustain important ecological communities, determine habitats for fish, and act as obstacles to currents, thus enhancing tidal energy dissipation and ocean mixing. Mapping the complete global distribution will help constrain models of seamount formation as well as aid in understanding marine habitats and deep ocean circulation. Two approaches have been used to map the global seamount distribution. Depth soundings from single- and multibeam echo sounders can provide the most detailed maps with up to 200-m horizontal resolution. However, soundings from the > 5000 publicly available cruises sample only a small fraction of the ocean floor. Satellite altimetry can detect seamounts taller than ~ 1.5 km and studies using altimetry have produced seamount catalogues holding almost 13,000 seamounts. Based on the size-frequency relationship for larger seamounts, we predict over 100,000 seamounts > 1 km in height remain uncharted, and speculatively 25 million > 100 m in height. Future altimetry missions could improve on resolution and significantly decrease noise levels, allowing for an even larger number of intermediate (1–1.5 km height) seamounts to be detected. Recent retracking of the radar altimeter waveforms to improve the accuracy of the gravity field has resulted in a twofold increase in resolution. Thus, improved analyses of existing altimetry with better calibration from multibeam bathymetry could also increase census estimates.

The pace of scientific discovery is being transformed by the availability of 'big data' and open access, open source software tools. These innovations open up new avenues for how scientists communicate and share data and ideas with each other and with the general public. Here, we describe our efforts to bring to life our studies of the Earth system, both at present day and through deep geological time. The GPlates Portal (portal.gplates.org) is a gateway to a series of virtual globes based on the Cesium Javascript library. The portal allows fast interactive visualization of global geophysical and geological data sets, draped over digital terrain models. The globes use WebGL for hardware-accelerated graphics and are cross-platform and cross-browser compatible with complete camera control. The globes include a visualization of a highresolution global digital elevation model and the vertical gradient of the global gravity field, highlighting small-scale seafloor fabric such as abyssal hills, fracture zones and seamounts in unprecedented detail. The portal also features globes portraying seafloor geology and a global data set of marine magnetic anomaly identifications. The portal is specifically designed to visualize models of the Earth through geological time. These space-time globes include tectonic reconstructions of the Earth's gravity and magnetic fields, and several models of long-wavelength surface dynamic topography through time, including the interactive plotting of vertical motion histories at selected locations. The globes put the on-the-fly visualization of massive data sets at the fingertips of end-users to stimulate teaching and learning and novel avenues of inquiry. © 2016 Müller et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Mapping of seafloor tectonic fabric in the Indian Ocean, using high-resolution satellite-derived vertical gravity gradient data, reveals an extinct Pacific-style oceanic microplate ('Mammerickx Microplate') west of the Ninetyeast Ridge. It is one of the first Pacific-style microplates to be mapped outside the Pacific basin, suggesting that geophysical conditions during formation probably resembled those that have dominated at eastern Pacific ridges. The microplate formed at the Indian-Antarctic ridge and is bordered by an extinct ridge in the north and pseudofault in the south, whose conjugate is located north of the Kerguelen Plateau. Independent microplate rotation is indicated by asymmetric pseudofaults and rotated abyssal hill fabric, also seen in multibeam data. Magnetic anomaly picks and age estimates calculated from published spreading rates suggest formation during chron 21o (~47.3 Ma). Plate reorganizations can trigger ridge propagation and microplate development, and we propose that Mammerickx Microplate formation is linked with the India-Eurasia collision (initial 'soft' collision). The collision altered the stress regime at the Indian-Antarctic ridge, leading to a change in segmentation and ridge propagation from an establishing transform. Fast Indian-Antarctic spreading that preceded microplate formation, and Kerguelen Plume activity, may have facilitated ridge propagation via the production of thin and weak lithosphere; however both factors had been present for tens of millions of years and are therefore unlikely to have triggered the event. Prior to the collision, the combination of fast spreading and plume activity was responsible for the production of a wide region of undulate seafloor to the north of the extinct ridge and 'W' shaped lineations that record back and forth ridge propagation. Microplate formation provides a precise means of dating the onset of the India-Eurasia collision, and is completely independent of and complementary to timing constraints derived from continental geology or convergence histories. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. K.J.M. and R.D.M. were supported by ARC Discovery Project DP130101946 . The CryoSat-2 data were provided by the European Space Agency, and NASA/CNES provided data from the Jason-1 altimeter. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation ( OCE-1128801 ), the Office of Naval Research ( N00014-12-1-0111 ), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ( HM0177-13-1-0008 ) and ConocoPhillips . Version 23 of the global grids of gravity anomaly and VGG can be downloaded from the following ftp site ftp://topex.ucsd.edu/pub/global_grav_1min . All figures were produced using the Generic Mapping Tools ( GMT ) software ( Wessel et al., 2013 ). The open-source plate reconstruction software GPlates ( Boyden et al., 2011 ) was used to compute the distance from the Kerguelen Plume to the initiation point of ridge propagation using different absolute reference frames, and to produce the VGG raster reconstruction in Fig. 3 . Magnetic anomaly picks were accessed from the compilation of Seton et al. (2014) from The Global Seafloor Fabric and Magnetic Lineation Data Base Project website ( http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PT/GSFML/ ). We thank the editor An Yin and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments that improved the manuscript. Appendix A