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BathyCat is an interactive 3-D globe viewer for the bathymetric features catalogue developed by Souche, Hartz & Schmid (2026) based on the GEBCO 2025 grid at 15 arc-second resolution.
The catalogue contains 125,514 submarine features — seamounts, knolls, and ridges — identified using a novel, reproducible workflow based on topographic prominence and isobath analysis. Only features with a prominence greater than 300 m are included. Each feature is defined by its peak location and five nested contour levels at 25, 50, 75, 90, and 100% of its topographic prominence — a measure of how isolated a summit is from surrounding higher terrain. For each contour level, a comprehensive suite of morphometric attributes is provided: area, circularity, orientation, and slope.
The rich attribution allows for easy filtering and sub-classification. For instance, features with prominence >1000 m and high circularity can be readily isolated to study seamounts. The dataset provides an objective, quantitative foundation for research in marine geology, volcanism, marine biodiversity, oceanography, and resource assessment.
The underlying research and dataset are described in the publication by Souche, Hartz & Schmid (2026) in Scientific Data, and archived at PANGAEA (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.992546).