This thing, which looks like a high-grade homemade piñata, is actually the first digital map of ocean floor sediments, comprised of data from half a century of seafloor samples.

We know less about the deep ocean than we do about the surface of Mars.

But if we want to really understand how humans are impacting the Earth, we need to start looking down deep into the muck. That’s why scientists created the first digital map of the seafloor’s geologic composition.

Other seafloor maps have used satellites and remote sensing instruments to trace underwater mountains and canyons. But the latest map, published in the journal Geology, is the first to describe the diverse sedimentary composition of the seafloor. And that’s important, because patterns in sediments can help scientists unravel past environmental changes and predict our planet’s future.

Full scientific paper at Geology h/t Popular Science