Environmental marine geoscience 2. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter imaging of the Canadian continental shelf

High-resolution, multibeam technology has revolutionized the study of marin e continental shelf geology in the 1990s. For the first time, complete cove rage maps of the seabed are becoming available: the marine equivalent of th e aerial photograph. This article reviews the principles that lie behind mu ltibeam bathymetric and backscatter surveying, and also details the mapping platforms available to researchers in Canada. Examples of imagery derived from a wide range of geologic settings, spanning che Cambro-Ordovician thro ugh to the present, are presented from sites located on the eastern Canadia n continental shelf.