A five-letter word for map

Bathymetric maps and nautical charts both depict sea floor features having measurable relief or able to be delimited quantitatively by relief. Functional differences between these classes of products determine the procedural use of data in compilation phases with the recent proliferation of industrial activity in the oceans manifesting itself in increased requirements for unambiguous sea floor information to accepted mapping standards. The sea floor is no longer considered a place one avoids if he is successful, or upon which one grounds a ship if he is not· it is increasingly basic to numbers of engineering and scientific applications. This and other factors pertinent to marine cartographical data are discussed in the context of bringing to the attention of marine engineers and scientists a conceptual framework for assessing the utility of sea floor relief.