# Side-scan sonar · Concept

> Mapping the sea floor by sweeping it with sound from a towed instrument.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW079FQPY/side-scan-sonar  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Concepts](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts)Side-scan sonar

Concept · oceanography · in 1 mystery

# Side-scan sonar

Mapping the sea floor by sweeping it with sound from a towed instrument.

[Oak Island money pit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island)

A towfish pulled behind a ship sends fans of sound to either side and records the echoes, building an image of the bottom in which wrecks, rocks and debris stand out by their shadows. It found HMS Erebus and Terror and is the main tool of the searches for MH370, the Flor de la Mar and the San José. A sonar target is a shape; identification needs a camera.

## Where it comes up

**[Oak Island money pit](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island)**

The only public geological survey document is a preliminary Geological Survey of Canada interpretation of a 1996 multibeam sonar survey, which notes circular seabed depressions that may be gas pockmarks or sinkholes…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Side-scan sonar [Concept CPT0DECW079FQPY]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW079FQPY
```

Key

**CPT** 0DECW079FQPY

Record

Concept

Field

Oceanography

Related

[Bathymetry](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW07EH90Y/bathymetry)

Version

2

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1134263)

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Related concepts

[Bathymetry](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW07EH90Y/bathymetry)

The record

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