In March 1983, President Reagan signed a proclamation establishing an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending the 200 nautical mile from the coasts of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. territories and possessions. In 1984, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a program to map these areas of the EEZ To accomplish the mapping of the deepwater portion (depths greater than 400 m) of this area, the USGS selected the long-range sidescan sonar system GLORIA (Geological LOng-Range Inclined Asdic). At that time the GLORIA system was owned and operated by British colleagues at the United Kingdom's Institute of Oceanographic Sciences (IOS), now the Southampton Oceanography Centre, Challenger Division. The GLORIA system was developed specifically to map the morphology and texture of seafloor features in the deep ocean.
GLORIA Mapping Program Information
GLORIA Publications and References
U.S. Atlantic East Coast GLORIA Mapping Program
U.S. Gulf of Mexico GLORIA Mapping Program
U.S. Pacific West Coast GLORIA Mapping Program
Downloadable On-line Digital GLORIA Mosaics
GLORIA Internet Map Servers