Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and BP America Inc. announce the signing of a three-year, $3 million-dollar partnership, marking the beginning of a long-term research collaboration. The initial focus of the program is to develop and evaluate new technologies to image and characterize the seafloor and subseafloor. Using a wide variety of surveying techniques such as electromagnetics, fiber optics, acoustics, autonomous underwater vehicles and ocean bottom seismographs, Scripps and BP scientists will further improve our understanding of the seabed and the processes that shape it. The seabed is a dynamic environment, shaped by tides, storms, earthquakes and other factors.