This collection of papers originates from a meeting are in current use on board UK research vessels. organized in May 1988 at the Geological Society, Marine geological exploration requires information under three further headings: (i) the "shape" of the London, under the auspices of its Marine Studies Group. The meeting was concerned with reviewing sea floor, (ii) the nature of the rocks and sediments the present state-of-the-art of marine geological and which lie at its surface, and (iii) the nature of deeper geophysical sampling and surveying techniques. structures. Studies of the shape of the sea floor The pace of scientific exploration of the ocean (bathymetry) are based primarily on echo sounder basins has increased dramatically over the past few and side-scan sonar surveying. Technology in this decades in response to interest in the global tectonic field has seen major advances over the past two processes which control their long-term evolution decades, with the development of new ceramic ma­ and the regional and local sedimentary and tectonic terials to provide more efficient and powerful trans­ ducers, the increasing use of digital data processing processes which shape them, as well as more practi­ cal questions such as the nature and extent of off­ techniques to improve the quality of the signal from shore mineral resources, problems of waste disposal the sea floor, and the introduction of new design at sea and the response of sea level to global climatic concepts to provide higher resolution records.